More drama hits Carlton AFL club over top staffer’s alleged behaviour – after Luke Sayers resigned as president during ‘d**k pic’ scandal

A top staffer at AFL club Carlton is under investigation over allegations about his behaviour just months after former president Luke Sayers stood down amid his headline-grabbing ‘d**k pic’ scandal.

The complaints from a whistleblower about the management-level employee have been referred to the AFL Integrity Unit and the staffer is currently on leave, according to the club.

Carlton officials are now looking into the matter after receiving a number of complaints from staff, according to The Age.

‘The club can confirm it has been dealing with a management matter,’ the Blues said in a statement.

‘While the club is not in a position to provide commentary on individual employees, the club wants to make clear this matter is in no way related to any gender-based misconduct and any such insinuations are inaccurate and misleading.

‘The club’s first priority is, and always will be, its people and this is at the forefront on the club’s handling of this matter.’

Carlton also said the employee’s leave was pre-planned and its timing with the investigation is coincidental.

The news comes after Sayers’ wife left him and he was seen having dinner with a mystery blonde woman three months after his stunning resignation.

A friend of the Sayers family said Cate Sayers left her husband in order to put their children first after the publication of the graphic sexual image on January 9. 

Sayers quit his post with the Blues effective immediately on January 22, with the announcement coming just minutes after the AFL Integrity Unit found he was not responsible for the sending of the sexual image.

The former PWC chief executive’s X account posted an image of a mystery man’s penis, and tagged the account of a top female management figure with a company linked to Carlton at 5.41pm on January 9.

The public post was directed at the executive’s social media account, although the mother-of-two does not appear to have used X since 2017 and does not follow Mr Sayers on the platform.

Sayers noticed the development after the photo had been online for 12 minutes, at which point he hastily deleted the image and apologised to his followers, stating 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.

Sayers had been with the club for 12 years before stepping down.

The AFL and Carlton later said his account was compromised and no further investigation would take place.

The fallout from the scandal didn’t stop there, with a club sponsor pulling out of an event that was run by Carlton and Sayers also stepping back from another post.

It emerged that Bupa cancelled its naming rights arrangement for the team’s Run for Respect charity event on February 2.

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 also announced he would step back as chairman of his consulting company, Sayers Group – but at the time of writing, he is still listed as chairman on the business’s website.

Daily Mail Australia has approached Mr Sayers for comment.