Silence surrounding Carlton president Luke Sayers’ ‘dick pic’ scandal exposes AFL boys’ club double standard

The crickets from AFL House surrounding Luke Sayers “dick pic” scandal is a double standard when you compare it to the heavy handed way players are treated, writes Michael Warner.

Luke Sayers, president of Carlton Football Club. Picture: Michael Klein.

Imagine for a moment a “dick pic” had been sent from Toby Greene’s social media account to a high-ranking female executive at one of Greater Western Sydney’s major sponsors.

Investigators at the AFL integrity unit would be all over Greene (and the Giants) getting to the bottom of the sordid posting.

Greene, of course, has done nothing of the sort. Yet in the curious case of Carlton president Luke Sayers, from whose X account emanated exactly the same scenario last week, we’re getting crickets from head office.

The AFL and Carlton - a club that preaches gender equality via its Carlton Respects program (in which Blues players wear orange socks to raise awareness) - are still refusing to even discuss it.

Carlton’s players celebrate a goal during their 2024 Carlton Respects game against Geelong. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Sayers, too, has declined to answer questions about whether the appendage in the photo posted on his account on January 9 belongs to him.

The image went viral before the ex-PwC boss frantically deleted it 12 minutes later.

“Sorry my account has been hacked – please ignore all posts”, he wrote.

Speaking from Italy, Sayers told the Herald Sun last week that he was “outraged” and would do anything to find the perpetrators.

“This is outrageous – I’m ­investigating and will leave no stone unturned finding out who did this to me and my family,” Sayers said.

But has he lodged a complaint with Victoria Police yet?

Is he, as he has stated, the victim of a hack and innocent in all of this?

Tech experts say it would be relatively easy to find out from which device the X post was made if indeed Sayers had been hacked.

Carlton president Luke Sayers pictured with senior coach Michael Voss. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Given his public standing, surely the onus is on the Sayers Group boss to produce the evidence to show that he did not send the message and therefore did not sexually harass the woman involved?

And what of Bupa, the leading health insurance company that has pumped millions of dollars into the Blues where the female executive is employed?

How do they feel about a senior employee being named alongside a picture of a penis seen by half of Australia?

What past dealings or correspondence, if any, has Sayers had with her?

Have the AFL or Blues officials reached out to her for answers?

So far we have no idea.

But what we do know is that Sayers, recently touted as a future chairman of the AFL Commission, is a card-carrying member of football’s boys’ club establishment and the head of a major consultancy firm whose backers include some of Melbourne’s heaviest hitters.

And when it comes to investigating their own, the Masters of the AFL Universe are always loath to act.