Andy Marinos new CEO of Sanzar
The South African New Zealand Australia Argentina Rugby (SANZAAR) has appointed South Africa's Andy Marinos as their Chief Executive Officer.
SARU has wished the 43-year-old well on his appointment. Marinos, the GM Commercial Marketing at SARU, is expected to take up his new role from next year.
“I’d like to congratulate Andy on behalf of the South African rugby community,” said Jurie Roux, CEO of SARU.
“This is an extremely important position in southern hemisphere rugby and Andy takes to it a wealth of experience – not only as an administrator, but as a former player in the competition. He has been SARU’s ‘point man’ on SANZAR business for a number of years and has worked closely with our partners in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina on the development of the competition over the years. He will be sorely missed at SARU but the consolation is that he takes with him a keen understanding of rugby in South Africa which I’d like to think will have benefits for all the partners,” Roux added.
Marinos previously held the position of SANZAR CEO between 2008 and 2010, when the ‘secretariat’ was rotated between the partners, before the establishment of a permanent office.
Marinos played for the Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers in Vodacom Super Rugby as well as for Newport RFC and Newport Dragons (1999-2004), from where he won eight Test caps for Wales. He also played rugby league for the Sydney Bulldogs.
"I'm incredibly proud to have been given the responsibility of leading the ongoing growth and prosperity of Southern Hemisphere rugby,” said Marinos. "We are about to embark upon an exciting new expansion that will see us deliver the game to more countries, fans and commercial markets than ever before. The impressive performance of our four national teams at the recent Rugby World Cup was pleasing but the challenge for us is to not only ensure they remain at the top, but that we keep working to raise the bar even further both in terms of high performance and commercial success. I thank the Board for its confidence in me and look forward to commencing with this talented and dedicated team in the New Year."
SARU said in a statement that they will announce his replacement soon.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
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