John O'Neill (sport administrator)

John O'Neill AO
Born	John Anthony O'Neill 1951 (age 65–66) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Occupation	Sports administrator
Organization	Australian Rugby Union (ARU) Football Federation Australia (FFA)

John O'Neill (born 1951) is an Australian sporting administrator. He has been involved with both rugby union and soccer at the national level, after being head of the NSW State Bank.

Former CEO of the Australian Rugby Union, instrumental in staging the 2003 Rugby World Cup. In 2004, O'Neill was appointed head of the newly created Football Federation Australia by businessman Frank Lowy, a position he remained in until 7 November 2006. He then returned to his former position as CEO of the ARU.

O'Neill held the position as chief executive of Australian Rugby Union between 1995 and 2003.

The 2003 Rugby World Cup was originally scheduled to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand. However, in April 2002, the IRB decided that Australia would be the sole host of the tournament after the ARU, led by O'Neill, made a proposal to that effect. Upon visiting New Zealand, with the country upset with this decision, O'Neill described himself as "surprisingly well recognised" and that he "walked through the crowd at Eden Park at one point and that was an adventure. I used that old Paul Keating bit of advice 'don't make eye contact'." He said further that he is "probably a better known face there (N.Z.) than I am here (Australia), which is terrifying."

Prior to the 2003 Rugby World Cup, after the International Rugby Board decided that "no formal musical performance will be permitted other than the playing of the national anthems", O'Neill described the decision not to allow the singing of "Waltzing Matilda" as a "half-pregnant situation where you can sing it but not when the players are on the paddock."Archived 25 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine. He attracted much media attention with the statement, even starting a media campaign which included Sally Loane and Alan Jones. John Howard even suggested that "it's ridiculous".

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