If they are not already, the AFL leadership should be asking themselves how they became embroiled in an acrimonious marriage split that originated with a grainy photograph of male genitals posted on the internet more than 12 months ago.

The legal stoush between the estranged couple, former Carlton president Luke Sayers and his wife Cate, went up a few notches over the past week when Cate filed a defamation suit against her husband in the Supreme Court of Victoria, prompting a public intervention from two of the couple’s daughters, Bronte and Claudia, on behalf of their father.

Ex-Carlton president Luke Sayers.Credit: Elke Meitzel

Where is the AFL exposed, so to speak?

At the centre of Cate Sayers’ case is the statement, said to be a statutory declaration, made by her husband to the AFL’s integrity unit. In the statement – which this masthead has not seen – Sayers clearly asserted that he did not upload the offending image on his social media (X) account and provided some detail of his version of these events. A female executive, who worked for a club sponsor, had been tagged into the X post.

The AFL found that Luke Sayers had not breached AFL rules, and that his account had been compromised.

Cate Sayers is taking legal action, on the basis that she has been injured by her husband’s explanation to the AFL, and is seeking some form of redress.

Cate and Luke Sayers at the Brownlow in September 2024.Credit: Getty

The Cate camp is saying that she has some knowledge of what Luke put in the statement and is willing to subpoena it. The inference is that she has not necessarily seen the document, in full.

The AFL, thus,........

© The Sydney Morning Herald