Demetriou said the allegations aimed at him were “unfair and unjust” and vowed to defend his reputation. At the NSW inquiry into Crown casino in 2020 he faced questions about his role at Acquire Learning, where he was never officially listed as a director, but a member of the advisory board to the now collapsed vocational education group.

Demetriou ultimately paid $360,000 in a settlement with the liquidators of Acquire Learning in which he was a shareholder relating to repayments of shareholder loans taken out by his private company Katia.

Previously, he led the AFL Players Association before joining the AFL as football boss in 2000 and succeeding Wayne Jackson as chief executive in 2003. A strong supporter of Andrew Dillon’s campaign for the top job, Demetriou was a high-profile CEO whose time in the top job was punctuated by an occasionally outspoken, combative style and strong decision-making.

Drummond, who recently stepped down as Geelong president, is widely viewed by the clubs as a commission aspirant. The financial boss and former chief executive of Medibank Private has been replaced at the Cats by Grant McCabe, an appointment that led to the immediate resignation of long-serving director and vice president Diana Taylor, who had also presented to the board for the top job.

Of the other prospective club presidents, Koch has not ruled out a commission role, while Carlton’s Sayers is regarded as carrying too much baggage due to his former role as chief executive at the scandal-ridden PwC.

Sydney chairman Pridham has been sounded out by a number of presidents but has to date ruled out the prospect. Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett, who still wields influence in AFL circles, has privately lobbied for Pridham, who is South Australian by birth, a leading investment banker and has chaired the Swans for more than a decade.

Browne and Kennett were contacted for comment.

Demetriou spoke on Thursday night on SEN radio, where he expressed sympathy for the clubs who said they had been blindsided by the prospect of immediate changes to the draft points system for northern and Next Generation academies and the father-son rule.

He batted off the possibility of succeeding Goyder as commission chairman, but did not rule it out. “It’s never crossed my mind,” he said.

Loading

Pridham, too, said he had not considered the role and remained wedded to his position at the helm of the Swans, who sit three games clear on the ladder and are premiership favourites. The club last year opened its new headquarters at Moore Park’s Royal Hall of Industries alongside the SCG.

However, he did take aim at the lobbying by clubs in the competitive balance review and in particular the push to make it tougher for clubs to access father-sons and academy players. St Kilda’s Bassat has led that campaign in the belief that the Saints have been disadvantaged by those draft inequalities.

“If any club thinks their lack of success is because of AFL rules then they’re misguided,” said Pridham. “My advice is that your focus has to be controlling what you can control, and that rule holds for football and business.

“Clubs should be focusing on culture and finance, and by culture, I mean getting the right people to your club. Yes, advocate, but you’re not going to be successful whingeing about perceived or real advantages held by other clubs. I’d go mad thinking that way.

“Father-son boasts a great history and romance and no, it’s not equal, but they’re not going to move Perth any closer to Melbourne, and we’re not going to suddenly be drafting the majority of our kids from NSW or Queensland.

“You can complain all you like, but focus on yourselves. I’ve done my share of whingeing, and I’ve worked out it doesn’t work. I moved my focus to setting up a great facility and attracting great people to my club.”

Goyder has been the commission chairman since 2017. He has indicated a wish to remain in the top AFL job during the first few years of Dillon’s leadership and at least until the end of the 2025 season.

AFL club presidents have effectively pushed for a stronger say in the make-up of the game’s governing body, pushing for some years for a bigger football influence on the commission, which late last year appointed veteran club boss, northern states pioneer and former player Andrew Ireland and former Fremantle and Giants footballer Matt de Boer to the board.

The presidents also successfully took on the AFL last year over its initial refusal to indemnify the clubs over the threat of concussion legal action.

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.