The fallout from the AFL’s ‘d*** pic’ scandal hasn’t stopped with the resignation of Luke Sayers as Carlton president, with a club sponsor pulling out of an event run by the club – and the former executive also stepping back from another post.
Sayers quit his post with the Blues effective immediately on Wednesday, with the announcement coming just minutes after the league’s Integrity Unit found he was not responsible for the sending of a graphic sexual image from his X account on January 9.
A female executive with the health insurance company Bupa, which is one of Carlton’s key sponsors, was tagged in the post, which featured a photo of a penis.
Now it has emerged that Bupa has cancelled its naming rights for the club’s Run for Respect event on February 2, which is being held to raise funds for the Blues’ charity work.
However, a company spokesperson confirmed Bupa will continue its relationship with Carltong, adding, ‘Bupa continues to prioritise the wellbeing, privacy and safety of our employee.’
In addition to quitting as Blues president, Sayers has also announced he will step back as chairman of his consulting company, Sayers Group.
Luke Sayers (pictured) quit as Carlton president on Wednesday despite the AFL finding he was in no way responsible for the sending of a graphic sexual image from his X account
The high-flying executive (pictured with Carlton star Patrick Cripps last year) has also stepped away from the chairman role with his private company
Sayers Group CEO and co-founder Sammy Kumar told the company’s employees that the former PWC boss would be ‘taking an extended break’ from the role due to the ‘need for time with his family’ in an email sent on Wednesday, according to the Australian Financial Review.
The end of Sayers’ 12-year involvement with the club at the executive level was revealed in an emotional statement he made on Wednesday afternoon.
‘Leading the Carlton Football Club has been one of the great honours and privileges of my life,’ he said.
‘I leave knowing the club is in great shape, and with my deepest gratitude for its understanding and support.
‘I deeply regret that other people including my family, friends and colleagues and football club have been caught up in this matter.
‘The past two weeks have been very tough for everyone who has been impacted by an unauthorised social media post.
‘I did not post the image, either deliberately or accidentally … I am aware of speculation that the naming of another person in the post explains why it happened.
‘It does not, and that narrative is wrong.’
The AFL made the ruling after the league’s Integrity Unit concluded its investigation, which began last week, noting that Sayers and the Carlton club had assisted with its inquiries.
Sayers (pictured, left, with his wife Cate, second from left, and Carlton CEO Brian Cook and his partner last year) announced he was stepping down in an emotional statement on Wednesday
‘The integrity unit’s inquiries, which included multiple interviews and review of other evidence, have now concluded and the AFL has found, based on the available evidence, that access to Mr Sayers’ X account was compromised, resulting in the posting of the image (i.e. by a person not being Mr Sayers) and tagging of another person,’ the league said in a statement.
Sayers noticed the shocking development after the photo had been online for 12 minutes, at which point he hastily deleted the image and apologised to his followers, claiming he had been targeted by cyber criminals.
‘Sorry, my account has been hacked – please ignore all posts,’ he wrote.
The married father-of-four’s account, which had more than 7,300 followers, was deleted but the post had already been reposted and screen-grabbed by other X users.
He told Daily Mail Australia he was ‘outraged’ by the alleged attack when the news first broke.
‘This is outrageous. I’m investigating and will leave no stone unturned finding out who did this to me and my family,’ he said.
