South Australia is paying tribute to Max Basheer AM, the long-serving football administrator and lawyer whose work helped define the state’s sporting culture. Basheer has died at the age of 98.
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said his passing would be felt deeply across the state. “Few South Australians have left such an indelible mark on our sporting culture,” he said.
Basheer was born in 1927 to a Lebanese immigrant family and educated at Prince Alfred College, where his passion for football began. He went on to represent South Australia at amateur level while studying law at Adelaide University, but his playing ambitions were curtailed when North Adelaide refused to release him to Sturt.
What followed was a remarkable administrative career. Beginning in 1954 as honorary solicitor to the SA Amateur Football League and a Commissioner to the Tribunal, Basheer quickly became a key figure in football’s governance. His legal expertise was central to the 1966 royal commission into South Australia’s liquor licensing laws, which brought an end to the “six o’clock swill”.
The following year he was appointed Senior Vice President of the SANFL. By 1971, he was deeply involved in the decision to establish Football Park as the league’s headquarters. His leadership continued as SANFL President from 1978 to 2003 and as Chairman of the SA Football Commission from 1990 to 2003, where he played a pivotal role in bringing the Adelaide and Port Adelaide AFL teams into the national competition.
His contribution was widely recognised. Basheer was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1998, awarded the Australian Sports Medal, and granted life membership of both the SANFL and the AFL—the first non-Victorian to be given that honour. In 2005, he became the first South Australian sports administrator to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
At Adelaide Oval, his name is permanently inscribed on one of the stands, a reminder of his place in the state’s football story.
Premier Malinauskas extended his sympathy to the Basheer family and friends. “I pass on my sincere condolences to Max Basheer’s family and friends. May he rest in peace,” he said.
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