Arthur George Explained

Honorific Prefix:Sir
Arthur George
Honorific Suffix:AO
Birth Name:Athanasios Theodore Tzortzatos
Birth Date:17 January 1915
Birth Place:Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality:Australian
Education:Sydney Boys High School
Occupation:Lawyer
Years Active:1938–1980
Spouse:Renee Freeleagus (married 1939)

Sir Arthur Thomas George AO, born Athanasios Theodore Tzortzatos[1] (17 January 1915 – 4 September 2013),[2] was an Australian lawyer and association football administrator.[3]

Early life

George was born in Sydney, Australia to parents of Greek ancestry and was schooled at Kensington Public School.[4] He later attended Sydney Boys High School from 1928 to 1937 [5] before taking the Solicitors Admission Board test and being admitted as a solicitor in 1938.

Soccer

George was President of the Australian Soccer Federation between 1969 and 1988, and President of the Oceania Football Confederation from 1978 to 1982.

He was part of the FIFA Executive Committee between 1980 and 1994.[6]

Honours

George was knighted in the 1972 Birthday Honours for services to the Australian-Greek community, universities and sport.[7] [8] He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 1987 Birthday Honours in recognition of service to the community and to education.[9] [10] In 1994, FIFA awarded him the gold Order of Merit—the organisation's highest honour.[11] He was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for service to Australian society through law, education and sport.[12]

Allegations of criminality

Arthur George featured in a long-suppressed report titled "Allegation No. 27", which was tendered to a 1986 federal parliamentary commission of inquiry into allegations regarding the suspected corrupt awarding of the lease on the Sydney Luna Park site by the then NSW government to a company known to have been controlled by notorious Sydney underworld figure Abe Saffron. The report identified George as a friend and business associate of Saffron and named George as one of the witnesses who would need to be interviewed for further investigation of the allegation.[13]

Notes and References

  1. News: Mr Soccer won more than he lost . The Sydney Morning Herald . 27 July 1988 . 16 January 2013 . Cockerill, Michael.
  2. Web site: Former ASF president Arthur George dies at 98 . Special Broadcasting Service . The World Game . 4 September 2013 . 11 December 2014 . During much of his tenure at the ASF, he also served on the FIFA executive, the first Australian to do so..
  3. Web site: SIR ARTHUR THOMAS GEORGE AO. Order of Australia Association. 2009-04-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20110706100408/http://www.theorderofaustralia.asn.au/quiet_australians/database/extra/extra76.pdf. 6 July 2011. dead.
  4. Book: Tamis, Anastasios M. . The Greeks in Australia . Cambridge University Press. 2005. 0-521-54743-1.
  5. Web site: Archived copy . 2 June 2012 . 23 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190323090425/http://www.shsobu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/imperial-honours.pdf . dead .
  6. Web site: History . Dempsey . Charles . . 2009-04-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090303110354/http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofcorgcontent/history.ofcpc . 3 March 2009 . dead .
  7. United Kingdom list:
  8. 1083293 . 3 June 1972 . GEORGE, Arthur Thomas . Knight Bachelor. In recognition of service to the Australian/Greek community . 11 December 2014 .
  9. News: 8 June 1987. THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY 1987 HONOURS. 1. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Special. S117. Australia. 28 August 2022. National Library of Australia.
  10. 872487. 8 June 1987. GEORGE, Arthur Thomas . Officer of the Order of Australia. In recognition of service to the community and to education . AO . 11 December 2014 .
  11. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-04/former-asf-president-arthur-george-dies/4935952 Key Australian soccer administrator Arthur George dies, aged 98
  12. Web site: It's an Honour: Centenary Medal . 3 June 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200725033242/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1128144 . 25 July 2020 . live .
  13. http://dl.aph.gov.au › C40 - ...PDF. Allegation No. 27 - Parliament of Australia