Port Adelaide admit last month’s dramatic Australian Crime Commission (ACC) report stalled negotiations over a crucial sponsorship for the struggling AFL club.
The Power, having finally confirmed their multi-million dollar, three-year deal with car giant Renault, took the unusual step of unveiling the agreement at the MCG.
The joint major sponsorship is a massive morale boost for the Power, who are in the midst of an overhaul on and off the field after several years of hard times.
But the alarming ACC concerns about performance enhancing drugs, match fixing and criminal connections in Australian sport forced Port and Renault to put their talks on hold.
“You can understand why corporate Australia stopped and considered what’s going on with sport and the whole drugs issue,” said Power president David Koch.
“It’s fair to say discussions took a hiatus until everyone saw the fallout, the reality and (got) over the speculation.”
Renault Australian marketing director Chris Bayman said they were “very comfortable” with Port’s anti-doping measures.
“Everyone would question, just for that day – it was a monumental day – what their involvement with the game was or what it ought to be,” he said of the ACC bombshell.
“But as far as I can see, no-one has been charged with anything and the guys at Port Adelaide have assured us they have great systems and processes in place.”
Port announced the deal at the MCG, rather than in Adelaide, as part of their determination to have a higher national profile.
Koch said their financial problem was not cost, but earning enough revenue.
“We’re proud of our roots, we’re proud of our history, we’re proud of where we are and where we’ve come from,” he said.
“But we also understand that to build a club, we have to look beyond not just our postcode at Alberton, but Adelaide, South Australia and nationally.”
Koch added Port have the lofty aim of becoming the best sporting organisation in the world.
“Don’t underestimate how important today is, not only for us as a board, but for the players and the membership of the club as well,” Koch said.
“It’s a tonic of saying `hey, people believe in us’.
“That belief and that passion has been under a bit of pressure over the last couple of years.”