Former Carlton president Luke Sayers has received an emphatic public show of support from two of his daughters as a bitter family dispute over the AFL’s handling of the explicit image scandal moves towards a Supreme Court hearing.
In a rare and extraordinary intervention, Bronte and Claudia Sayers issued a joint statement on Friday confirming they stand by their father amid the defamation proceedings launched by their estranged mother, Cate Sayers.
The case centres on allegations that Luke Sayers implied Cate was responsible for posting a lewd image from his phone during an AFL Integrity Unit investigation last year – an allegation she strongly denies.
The statement came as the legal fight intensified, with Cate Sayers filing a Supreme Court defamation writ alleging her husband falsely identified her as the ‘third party’ in a statutory declaration to the AFL Integrity Unit.
That declaration was relied upon by the AFL when it cleared Sayers of wrongdoing and found his social media account had been ‘compromised’.
‘This dispute sits within a long and complicated family history, with very different accounts of past events. Based on what we have lived and experienced, we stand behind our father and his position,’ the statement from his daughters read.
Former Carlton president Luke Sayers receives public backing from daughters as defamation dispute heads toward court proceedings
An explicit image briefly posted to Sayers’ X account in January 2025 triggered resignation and ongoing legal fallout
If needed, we will give evidence to support [Dad] … but we still hope it won’t come to that …
We have never spoken publicly about the matters affecting our family but given recent events, we wish to make our position clear.
We are very sorry that this continues to play out publicly. We would have much preferred for all of this to be resolved privately, without going to court.’
The statement marks the first time members of the Sayers family have publicly taken sides in the dispute, which has already sent shockwaves through AFL House and reignited questions about the league’s integrity processes.
Luke Sayers, through a spokesperson, told News Corp on Friday morning that he rejects the allegations being made against him and will defend the defamation proceedings.
His representatives said the former Carlton boss maintains the claims against him are false and that he will contest the matter in court.
Sayers has engaged an advisory firm established by former senior Victorian government figures to help manage the dispute, while he was previously represented by senior Melbourne lawyer Leon Zwier during the original lewd image saga.
The controversy first erupted in January 2025 when an explicit image was briefly uploaded to Sayers’ X account while he was serving as president of the Carlton Football Club.
Cate Sayers has launched defamation action alleging she was falsely implicated during AFL probe into explicit image scandal
Sayers claimed hacking after image appeared online for minutes, apologising publicly before resigning presidency amid mounting pressure
The post, which remained live for several minutes before being deleted, tagged a female corporate executive associated with club sponsor Bupa.
Sayers immediately denied posting the image, apologised publicly, and claimed his account had been hacked.
An AFL Integrity Unit investigation later concluded his phone had been ‘compromised’ by an undisclosed third party.
Just minutes after the league announced its findings, Sayers resigned as Carlton president, ending a 12-year association with the club.
Cate Sayers later left the marriage, and in filings now before the court, she alleges she was unfairly implicated during the AFL probe and that damaging statements were made about her mental health as part of her husband’s defence.
She also maintains she was never interviewed by the AFL during the investigation.
Her legal action has reopened scrutiny of how the AFL Integrity Unit conducts investigations, particularly its reliance on sworn statements and its limited public explanation of investigative methods.
The Sayers family has four daughters in total, with Alexandra and Lucinda not issuing public statements at this stage.
The AFL has declined to comment on the court proceedings or on questions surrounding Cate Sayers’ claim that she was not contacted as part of the original probe.
