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Gillon McLachlan Headlines Big 2022 Front Office Moves

Written by MOS Editorial Team

Published on 23 December 2022

There were major moves in leadership positions in 2022, which included the AFL, NCAA and even the Brisbane 2032 organising committee.

January was a busy month for administration moves, with the ITF announcing Kelly Fairweather as their new CEO, DAZN making structural changes to have a sole CEO, Shane Howard becoming the CEO of Supercars and Kitty Chiller stepping away from Gymnastics Australia.

Alan Sullivan became the new commissioner of Australian Rugby League in February, before Swimming Australia announced Tracy Stockwell OAM as their new president.

In April, Mark Emmert announced his tenure as NCAA president will come to an end in June 2023, this was followed by Clarence Seedorf joining the UEFA Foundation for Children board in May:

We are delighted Clarence is joining the UEFA Foundation for Children family. Not only does he carry an inspirational story as one of the most successful footballers of his generation, he has continually used his experiences to help make the world a better place for others. Having Clarence on our team will be a huge benefit to the Foundation as we work together to improve the lives of disadvantaged children all over the world – Aleksander Čeferin, UEFA president

In June, Jeroen Weimar was announced as the CEO of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, before the FIA appointed Natalie Robyn as the first ever CEO of the governing body.

Gillon McLachlan Announces Resignation

AFL CEO, Gillon McLachlan signalled the end of his eight-year tenure in April, a move he hinted at before the COVID-19 pandemic.

McLachlan was committed to rebuilding the competition, and he believes it is now in a good enough place for him to walk away.

He also set to play a major role in deciding his successor, which will come soon.

IOC Gender Parity

For the first time in the history of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the same number of men and women hold commission positions in the organisation.

Refugee athletes will also hold commission positions for the first time.

The 546 commission positions are made up of 273 males and 273 females.

IOC commissions have the responsibility of improving specified aspects of the IOC, making recommendations to the IOC president and executive board.

The IOC’s next gender equality aim is to have a 50/50 split of male and female athletes at the 2024 Olympics, with women making up 48% of the most recent games’ participants.

Her extensive experience and leadership will be crucial to improving our finances, governance and operations – Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA president

FIA Appoints First CEO

The governing body of international motorsport, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) appointed their first-ever CEO in September.

Natalie Robyn was given the role and will be in charge of the operation and financial performance of the FIA.

Robyn has over 15 years of experience in the automotive industry, having held senior management positions at Nissan, Daimler Chrysler and Volvo.

She also oversaw sanctioning and licensing for several motorsport organisations including the F1.

FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, declared that he wanted to reform the FIA’s governance upon taking the role in 2021.

NCAA President Steps Down

Mark Emmert, the president of the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) announced he will step down from the role in June 2023.

Emmert has been NCAA president since 2010, and signed a contract until 2025, but decided to resign following criticism over his handling of compensation disputes.

Emmert’s oversight of gender-parity issues has also been questioned, and the president faced a vote of confidence in 2021 after allowing glaring disparity between the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments.

Giving a year’s notice of resignation has allowed the NCAA to search properly for Emmert’s replacement.

Brisbane 2032 Announces Inaugural CEO

The organising committee of the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane announced former Deloitte executive, Cindy Hook as their inaugural CEO in December.

Hook was based in Singapore as she ran the Deloitte APAC operation for the last few years.

However, she knows Queensland well after she made regular trips while she was based in Sydney.

Hook will now relocate to Brisbane as she prepares to start the role in February.

To round out 2022…

In December, Cricket Australia announced Mike Baird as their fourth chairman in 12 months after Lachlan Henderson stood down from the role he took earlier in the year, this was followed by Under Armour announcing Stephanie Linnartz as their new president and CEO.