Brisbane chief executive Greg Swann says it’s important the next AFL CEO has a good understanding of the game.
The league is on the hunt for a new chief executive to succeed Gillon McLachlan once he steps down at the end of the 2022 season.
Andrew Dillon, Travis Auld, Brendon Gale, Josh Frydenberg and Patrick Delany have all been mentioned as possible candidates to replace McLachlan in the top job.
Having a football background should be a key prerequisite when identifying the next AFL boss, according to Swann.
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“Personally, I think you do (need a footy background),” he told Sportsday.
“As you say, there’s been plenty of names mentioned, but I think that’s important to have a football background.
“The game itself, what happens around it, there’s a lot of things that get thrown up and I just think if you come from outside the game, it would make that difficult.
“As I said, there’s a lot of names being mentioned, and I’m sure the head-hunters and whoever’s on the commission that are appointing it have got some good candidates.
“But I would’ve thought having the footy background or certainly good footy knowledge would be one of the key prerequisites.”
McLachlan has served as AFL CEO for eight years after taking over from Andrew Demetriou in 2014.