Vale held a similar position at the Storm while systemic rorting of the NRL cap was undertaken, and was named as one of five managers who had knowledge of the breaches by News Limited boss John Hartigan on Thursday.
The Kangaroos vigorously defended Vale in a statement issued following the release of the forensic accounting inquiry into the affair, and Demetriou was satisfied with that outcome.
"We've got great faith in North Melbourne and the way they've gone about the process of dealing with Cameron Vale," Demetriou said on Friday.
"They've got a QC on their board, Will Houghton, and he's very confident in Cameron Vale. We've got no reason to question that.
"He was the one person who cooperated with the inquiry, and I think that's a great credit to him."
The Deloitte report released on Thursday found the amount of the breaches to be almost double the figure the NRL initially believed occurred.
The Storm was slapped with a $1.6 million fine, had two premierships and all points for the 2010 season stripped in April when the breaches came to light.
Demetriou backed the severity of the sanctions, adding it was a cautionary tale AFL clubs should take note of.
"We've been very vigilant about our salary cap, we're very confident in our processes, but it is a reminder to all of our clubs, our industry and other sporting codes that have salary caps - if you run the gauntlet and you are exposed, you pay a very heavy price," he said.
"We've been there before and we understand how difficult these issues are. They affect many people, particularly reputations, and it's very difficult for supporters, but you can recover - we've seen that with our clubs."
