Gabriel Szondy is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n accountant

Accountant

An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...

 in the taxation and superannuation industries. Szondy is, however, best known for being a former president of the Melbourne Football Club

Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

. He is currently the Special Advisor of the Centre for Investor Education (CIE), the Chairman of CIE and is an independent Director of CareSuper, on Military Super's Board of Trustees and is Australian Super's representative Director on the Board of Frontier Investment Consulting. Previously Szondy has been a senior accounting partner at PriceWaterhouesCoopers and head of their Melbourne-based superannuation tax practice. He has also been Chairman of Association of Superannuation Funds in Australia's (ASFA) National Taxation Policy Committee, Chairman of the ASFA's Victorian Executive for 12 years.

Melbourne Football Club

Szondy became president of the Melbourne Football Club

Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

 on 18 December 2001, ousting previous and controversial president, Joseph Gutnick

Joseph Gutnick

Joseph Isaac Gutnick is an Australian businessman and mining industry entrepreneur. He is also an ordained rabbi and is well known for his philanthropy in the Jewish world.-Business holdings:Among Gutnick's business holdings:...

, with approximately 65% of the vote. All ten members of Szondy's "Team Vision" running ticket were elected to the Board, which included former players, Robert Flower

Robert Flower

Robert Flower is a former Australian rules footballer with Melbourne Football Club. His first game was against Geelong in 1973 and he captained the team from 1981 until his final game in 1987...

 and Gary Hardeman

Gary Hardeman

Gary Hardeman is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League between the late 1960s and early 1980s....

, ABC

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

 journalist Beverley O'Connor

Beverley O'Connor

Beverley O'Connor is a Melbourne journalist and broadcaster. She is currently a presenter of ABC's Asia Pacific News service, in which role she replaced Anne Krug, and she is also a fill-in presenter for Virginia Trioli on ABC News Breakfast....

 and Szondy's successor as president, Paul Gardner

Paul Gardner (AFL)

Paul Albert Gardner AM is the former president of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League. He held that position between 2003 and 2008, when he resigned and was succeeded by Jim Stynes....

.

During May 2003 Szondy apologised to the club's players, as a result of comments he had made about the football department the previous week. Szondy had suggested that "drastic action" would need to be taken if the team's poor form continued. The Demons, however, responded with a win the following week against Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide Football Club

The Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...

 and Melbourne coach Neale Daniher

Neale Daniher

Neale Francis Daniher is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League . Neale was also an Assistant Coach to the Essendon and Fremantle Football Clubs and the Coach of the Victorian State Team and the Melbourne Football Club...

 was widely defended by the football community, including by fellow coaches Mick Malthouse

Mick Malthouse

Michael "Mick" Malthouse is a former Australian rules footballer and the former coach of the Collingwood Football Club.While his playing career included a premiership for Richmond in the VFL, he is best known for his Australian Football League coaching career.Malthouse is the most successful coach...

 and Denis Pagan

Denis Pagan

Denis Pagan is a former Australian rules football coach and player in the VFL/AFL. He is current coach of Northern Knights in TAC Cup.-Playing career:...

. Szondy then apologised for "anything that had taken their focus off football last week", saying it was "regrettable" and that he was "sorry".

Midway through the 2003 season

2003 AFL season

Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2003.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:...

 Szondy announced that he would be stepping down as president at the end of the season. He anointed Board member, Paul Gardner

Paul Gardner (AFL)

Paul Albert Gardner AM is the former president of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League. He held that position between 2003 and 2008, when he resigned and was succeeded by Jim Stynes....

, as his predecessor in the role and Gardner did become president for the 2004 season.