Peter O'Meara was the inaugural CEO of the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. F ...

rugby union team. He was appointed in March 2005 following the successful bid by

RugbyWA The Western Australia Rugby Union (RugbyWA) is the governing body of rugby union in Western Australia. It was founded in 1893 and the inaugural 4 team competition commenced in 1895. The highest competition run by the union is the RugbyWA FMG Pr ...

for the right to host the fourth Australian franchise. O'Meara had previously been on the boards of the

NSWRU The New South Wales Rugby Union, or NSWRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. Within Australia it is considered ...

and QRU and had moved to Western Australia in his capacity as an executive with the Commonwealth Bank. After the launch of Western Force and two completed seasons in the Super 14 competition, O'Meara resigned as CEO in January 2008. This followed RugbyWA being fined $150,000 by the

Australian Rugby Union Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It ...

for a breach of protocols relating to player contracts. The controversial fuel technology company Firepower Holdings, run by O'Meara's friend Tony Johnston, had provided sponsorship deals which were a major factor in luring high-profile players including Wallaby star

Matt Giteau Matthew James Giteau (born 29 September 1982) is an Australian rugby union professional player who is playing with the LA Giltinis of Major League Rugby (MLR). Giteau joined the Giltinis after a short playing stint with the Gungahlin Eagles in ...

and others to play for the Western Force. Firepower's Australian operations were put into liquidation in early July 2008 in the Federal Court of Australia, leaving Giteau and a number of other sportsmen owed millions of dollars by Firepower. He was succeeded as CEO of the Force by Greg Harris, appointed in March 2008. O'Meara was appointed as CEO of the Catholic Cemeteries Board in Sydney in 2010.

References

Sources

* Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Rugby union in Western Australia {{Australia-rugbyunion-bio-stub