AFL integrity unit to probe sharing of penis pic on Luke Sayers’ X account

The AFL is now investigating the sharing of an image of a penis on a social media account belonging to Carlton chair and consulting boss Luke Sayers.

Former PwC boss Luke Sayers at a Senate inquiry into consultancy services at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The AFL integrity unit will investigate Carlton chair and consulting sector heavyweight Luke Sayers, who has doubled down on claims he was “hacked” after a picture of a penis was posted on his social media.

The Carlton Football club said on Friday it had referred the matter, in which a flaccid penis was posted to Mr Sayers’ X account, to the AFL’s Integrity Unit last week in a bid to examine the incident.

Mr Sayers, who previously ran PwC Australia for eight years before launching his own namesake consulting firm Sayers Group, has been under a cloud after alleging his social media was hacked last week after a tweet was sent featuring the penis picture and tagging a female executive at Carlton sponsor Bupa.

The female executive, who does not appear to have used X since 2017, does not follow Mr Sayers on the platform.

The image, which remained online for almost 14 minutes, was later addressed by Mr Sayers who told followers his X account had been hacked, urging them to “please ignore all posts”.

A spokesman for Sayers Group told The Weekend Australian his X account had been hacked, with Mr Sayers warning he would “leave no stone unturned finding out who did this”.

The image was posted around 8am Italy time.

Luke Sayers' Twitter post. Picture: X

His X account remains deactivated almost a week on from the incident, with Mr Sayers failing to respond to requests for comment.

On Friday a spokesman for the Carlton chair and consulting sector boss said he and the club would engage with the AFL’s Integrity Unit and he would “continue to deal with this issue without further public comment”.

“Mr Sayers did not post an image to his X account on 8 January 2025. When he was alerted that his social media had been hacked, he immediately disabled all of his accounts and engaged legal counsel,” his spokesman said.

“Mr Sayers acknowledges the distress of everyone impacted by this shocking incident.”

The AFL said its inquiries into the incident “remain ongoing”, with Carlton noting it was closely liaising with the investigative unit.

“Given the sensitive nature of this issue, the club acknowledges the effect and impact this has on individuals and will provide ongoing support to those involved,” a Carlton spokesman said.

A lewd image that appeared on the X account of Luke Sayers. Sayers contends that his account was hacked and has since deleted his account.

Security industry sources have told The Weekend Australian an investigation into the hacking could be a simple matter, and whoever hacked it would face up to three years in jail if the image of the penis was Mr Sayers. If it isn’t, the punishment remains unclear.

The female executive, the subject of the allegedly hacked tweet, has appeared at a number of club events. Bupa CEO Nicholas Stone and Bupa’s health insurance managing director Kate Williams have both been supporting her.

Sources said the female executive had been well supported during the incident and continues to receive support from Bupa.

The investigation comes as Bupa’s sponsorship of Carlton enters its final stretch and the football club prepares for critical pre-season training.

Members of the Carlton football club have told The Weekend Australian they are concerned about the incident, with the powerful chair of Carlton understood to still be in Italy.

Mr Sayers took on the top job at Carlton alongside his consulting role after first joining the board in 2012. His tenure at the top was a departure from the club’s practice of limiting board directors to two terms at the top, with former club directors understood to have clashed with the businessman.

Carlton President Luke Sayers celebrates during the 2024 AFL Round 01 match between the Carlton Blues and the Richmond Tigers. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The investigation by the AFL’s integrity commission puts further focus on Mr Sayers, who is also under a glare over his alleged links to a scandal at PwC over the firm’s misuse of confidential taxpayer ­information.

PwC’s former head of international tax Peter Collins was found to have shared confidential Australian government tax briefings with others at the firm in a bid to circumvent new tax laws. This took place when Mr Sayers was PwC CEO. However, Mr Sayers denies all knowledge of the matter.

Originally published as AFL integrity unit to probe sharing of penis pic on Luke Sayers’ X account