Former long-time PwC Australia boss Luke Sayers has stood down from his consultancy firm and as president of the AFL’s Carlton Football Club over a “penis photo scandal”.
Earlier this month a photo of a penis was posted by Sayers’ Twitter/X account, tagging a female executive at health insurance group BUPA, one of Carlton’s sponsors.
Sayers today said he would stand down as Carlton president, as well as take a leave of absence from Sayers Group, the multi-million-dollar consultancy he founded in 2020 after leaving PwC Australia.
“This decision draws a line in the sand,” he said.
Sayers was PwC Australia CEO for all relevant times of the tax leaks scandal, which has seen PwC’s reputation savaged.
PwC took secret Australian Government tax policy data — gleaned while providing advice on preventing multinationals avoiding Australian tax — and spruiked it to multinationals seeking to avoid Australian tax.
Despite the Senate inquiry into consultancies receiving evidence that Sayers received multiple warnings about the tax leaks issue, he has said he had no knowledge of it.
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Sayers Group was given $6.2m in Federal Government contracts in just two years. Source: The Klaxon
The AFL’s Integrity Commission was referred the matter of the penis photo two weeks ago.
Sayers has repeatedly claimed he was “hacked”, but has provided no evidence to support the claim.
In a statement today, Carlton said Sayers’ social media account had been “compromised”, yet similarly provided no evidence to back that claim.
The AFL’s Integrity Commission said the image was the work of “a person not being Mr Sayers”.
“The AFL has determined that Mr Sayers did not breach AFL rules in connection with the posting of the image,” it said.
Carlton, Sayers and the AFL are refusing to say who posted the image.
Sayers, who is married, would now “prioritise time with his family”.
“While considering all relevant details relating to the matter and despite no finding of wrongdoing via the AFL integrity unit and the club’s independent process, in the best interests of the club Sayers has made the decision to stand down from the board and will continue to prioritise time with his family,” the Carlton statement said.
The Klaxon reports on the Sayers over an earlier scandal. Source: The Klaxon
The club said it had appointed barrister Christopher Townsend SC — who previously worked alongside Sayers as a Carlton director — to “ensure the club gathered an informed and impartial understanding of the matter”.
Health giant Bupa “has been increasing pressure with the club” and “senior figures at the health insurer have demanded a full accounting of the incident or an apology”, The Australian reports.
The AFL released a statement saying Sayers and Bupa executives had assisted in its inquiries.
“Once he was made aware of the post, Mr Sayers immediately acted to have the image removed and to shut down his X account,” the statement said.
Sayers said he would “now deal with this away from the glare of the public and media spotlight”.
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