- The Blues president has been under intense pressure since the news broke.
- He denied any wrongdoing and said his X account had been hacked
Embattled Carlton president Luke Sayers has resigned from his role, with the shock announcement coming just minutes after the AFL cleared him of any wrongdoing after a graphic sexual image was sent from his X account.
The end of his 12-year involvement with the club at executive level was revealed in an emotional statement he made on Wednesday afternoon.
“Leading Carlton Football Club has been one of the great honors and privileges of my life,” he said.
“I leave knowing that the club is in great shape and with my deepest gratitude for your understanding and support.
“I am deeply sorry that other people, including my family, friends, colleagues and the football club, have been involved in this matter.”
The AFL made the decision after the league's Integrity Unit concluded its investigation, which began last week, noting that Sayers and the Carlton club had assisted with its investigations.
Luke Sayers (pictured) announced he had resigned as Carlton president on Wednesday afternoon, just minutes after the AFL cleared him following its investigation into a graphic sexual image sent from his X account.
The AFL discovered the offending image was sent by an unknown person who “compromised” Sayers' social media account.
“The integrity unit's investigations, which included multiple interviews and review of other evidence, have been concluded and the AFL has discovered, based on available evidence, that access to Mr Sayers' account place the image (i.e., by someone other than Mr. Sayers) and tagging someone else,” the league said in a statement.
'Consequently, the AFL has determined that Mr Sayers did not breach AFL rules in relation to the publication of the image.
'Once he became aware of the post, Mr Sayers acted immediately to remove the image and close his X account.
“The AFL would like to thank the executive who was inadvertently tagged in the post; her cooperation and assistance during the investigations has been extremely helpful.”
The former PWC CEO's account
The public post was directed to the executive's social media account, although the mother of two does not appear to have used X since 2017 and does not follow Sayers on the platform.
Sayers noticed the development after the photo was online for 12 minutes, at which point he quickly deleted it and apologized to his followers, claiming he had been targeted by cybercriminals.
The now former club president (pictured with wife Cate) strenuously denied any wrongdoing and insisted his account had been hacked.
“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 other X users had already reposted the post and taken a screenshot.
He told Daily Mail Australia he was “outraged” by the alleged attack when the news first broke.
'This is outrageous. “I am investigating and will spare no effort to find out who did this to me and my family,” he said.
Sources close to the executive who received the image told Daily Mail Australia that she was distraught by the incident and “completely shocked” but had since returned to work full-time.
Her family is said to be furious that she has been dragged into the mess.
Carlton also released a statement on Wednesday, revealing the team has established its own investigation into the matter, alongside AFL investigations.
Even though Sayers was cleared, the Blues announced that he resigned because it was “in the best interests of the Club” and that the team “now considers the matter closed.”