Max Rafeek Basheer (born 9 May 1927) is a former administrator with the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He was involved in a number of keys decisions affecting the SANFL from the 1970s to the 1990s, ultimately leading to the inclusion of two South Australian sides in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Born in 1927 to Lebanese immigrants,[1] in the early 1950s Basheer was a state amateur rover who was denied a SANFL League football career when North Adelaide refused to clear him to Sturt.
Basheer's administrative football career began in 1954 when he served as an honorary solicitor to the South Australian Amateur Football League and as a Commissioner to the League's Tribunal.
In what was probably his most celebrated contribution to the sport, Basheer served as vice president and president of the South Australian National Football League from 1967 to 2003. This was a period in which, over and above the usual administrative tasks, he oversaw:
The Max Basheer Reserve, which formerly adjoined Football Park and was used as a training oval for the Adelaide Football Club until 2015,[3] was named in honour of Basheer's contributions to the game. The Max Basheer Stand in the Adelaide Oval is named after him.
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Max Basheer is also a successful lawyer. A graduate of the University of Adelaide Law School, Basheer was admitted to the Bar in 1951. For almost four decades, from 1954 to 1992, Basheer was a partner (1954–66) and then senior partner (1966–92) with the law firm Povey Waterhouse & Basheer. In 1992, Basheer became a partner with Reilly Basheer Downs & Humphries and later worked as a consultant with DBH Lawyers.
As well as his professional legal career, Basheer is the Director of Basheers Strathmore Hotel P/L; Chairman of Directors of the Woodville Hotel P/L; and Chairman of Directors of Samarkand P/L.