Former Carlton boss Luke Sayers to settle explosive court fight with estranged wife over explicit photo

Former Carlton president Luke Sayers is reportedly preparing to settle a bitter defamation lawsuit brought by his estranged wife following months of legal fighting over an explicit photograph posted from his social media account.

Mr Sayers’ lawyers have been negotiating with Cate Sayers’ legal team in an attempt to resolve the case before another hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday.

Sources close to Cate Sayers, who are not authorised to speak publicly, told The Age the former Blues president has agreed to settle, with a public statement potentially being released as early as this week.

But any potential settlement would have to include a public apology to his estranged wife, the source added.

The reported breakthrough comes following a lengthy stalemate and two months after Mr Sayers failed in a bid to have the case transferred from the Supreme Court to the Federal Circuit and Family Court.

The unsuccessful application would have placed tighter restrictions on media coverage of the proceedings.

Justice Andrew Watson ordered the defamation action to remain before the Victorian Supreme Court, where it is scheduled for a seven-day judge-alone trial in November. 

Mrs Sayers launched the lawsuit over statements that she alleges Mr Sayers made in a statutory declaration submitted to the AFL Integrity Unit after an explicit photograph was posted from his X account on January 8, 2025.

She alleges the declaration falsely implicated her in accessing his account and publishing the image without his knowledge.

Mr Sayers has maintained that his account was compromised and has denied personally publishing the photograph.

The post, which tagged a senior executive connected to Carlton sponsor Bupa, was deleted after approximately 15 minutes. A message was subsequently published from the account saying: ‘Sorry my account has been hacked – please ignore all posts.’

The incident occurred while Mr Sayers, Cate and their four daughters were holidaying in Italy.

Mr Sayers later claimed he was showering and had left his phone in an adjoining bedroom when the image appeared online.

The AFL opened an investigation and asked Mr Sayers to provide a statutory declaration addressing how the photograph was taken, who knew his passwords and why the incident had not been reported to police.

The AFL’s Integrity Unit cleared him of wrongdoing after concluding that access to his account ‘was compromised’.

Mr Sayers resigned as Carlton president on January 22, 2025, shortly after the AFL announced the outcome of its investigation.

Mrs Sayers alleges she was never interviewed by the league despite being identified as a person relevant to the investigation.

Her lawyers have also claimed the AFL failed to forensically examine Mr Sayers’ phone, X account or the photograph before reaching its finding.

According to court documents, Mrs Sayers alleges the investigation was neither adequate nor impartial and that the AFL worked too closely with Carlton and Mr Sayers while reaching its decision.

The AFL has rejected that characterisation and publicly stood by its process.

‘Across January 2025, the AFL investigated the matter to understand if Mr Sayers had breached AFL rules as a registered official, in his then role as Carlton President,’ AFL spokesman Jay Allen previously said.

‘The AFL’s jurisdiction is confined to registered officials and the potential breach of any AFL Rules. The AFL stands by its process in relation to this matter.’

Carlton has also denied allegations that it colluded with the AFL during the investigation.

Mrs Sayers claims the statutory declaration contained false and confidential information about her personal life, health and family relationships.

Mr Sayers’ lawyers maintain the declaration was truthful and was supplied because the AFL required him to participate in its investigation.

They have also argued that the document was confidential and legally privileged, with its contents only becoming more widely known through Cate’s lawsuit.

A public hearing on Friday was expected to expose further details about the AFL investigation and potentially reveal internal correspondence involving league and Carlton officials.

AFL corporate affairs executive Sharon McCrohan had advised Mr Sayers during the original controversy before joining the league in October 2025.

McCrohan and other AFL figures were reportedly warned to retain communications relating to the matter ahead of possible subpoenas.

Mr Sayers attended Carlton’s wildcard victory over Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night and was reportedly planning to travel to Italy in the coming days.

He was also recently photographed at Crown’s Million Dollar Lunch alongside his new girlfriend, Alexandra Elms.