Cate Sayers had the rare opportunity to expose the inner workings of the AFL.
She could’ve brought a measure of transparency and accountability to League HQ but alas she appears to have bottled it accepting an apology from Luke Sayers in the Supreme Court last Friday.
She sued her former husband for defaming her by suggesting she was responsible for posting an image of his flaccid penis on X.
The former Carlton president’s apology barely registered given the matter was finalised during the blockbuster NFL game at the MCG.
Sayers’ barrister said on his behalf: “I acknowledge the extreme hurt and harm caused to Cate Sayers by suggesting she posted or may have posted (the explicit photo) … I accept she did not do this. To the extent I may have suggested otherwise, I apologise unreservedly to her.”
The AFL, and its humorously named “integrity unit”, together with the Carlton Football Club will be enormously relieved.
Neither wanted this case in an open courtroom where the actions of their respective representatives would be scrutinised.
Of particular interest would be any communication between Luke Sayers’ team and the AFL before the league cleared him of wrongdoing by accepting the fanciful notion that someone else, specifically Cate, was responsible.
The Herald Sun’s Mick Warner revealed that a draft of Luke Sayers’ statutory declaration had been received by AFL integrity unit boss Tony Keane some six days before his sworn statement was submitted.
What’s more the crisis manager, Sharon McCrohan, who sent that unsigned stat dec to the AFL would soon become the league’s head of corporate affairs.
It appears the boys club is happy to accept girls as long as they play by their shady rules.
Rita PanahiColumnist and Sky News host
Born in America, Rita spent much of her childhood in Iran before her family moved to Australia as refugees. She holds a Master of Business, with a career spanning more than two decades, first within the banking sector and the past ten years as a journalist and columnist.