Third AFL manager implicated in 'inappropriate relationships'

A third senior member of the AFL has been implicated in the sex scandal, with the Herald Sun reporting allegations of an inappropriate relationship.

The unnamed manager has been involved in a relationship with an employee, the newspaper alleged.

The manager was unmarried at the time.

The allegation comes after the resignations of two senior AFL executives who had "inappropriate relationships with two younger women".

General manager of football Simon Lethlean and General Manager of commercial Richard Simkiss both quit after the revelations.

"I'm disappointed," AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said.

"They were quite separate matters, but of course of distressing concern to a number of people.
"Simon and Richard have both been honest to me and to their credit own their mistakes.
"I expect my managers to be role models and set a standard for the rest of the organisation."

Lethlean said in a statement yesterday that he was sorry for the hurt he had caused.

"I failed my wife, my family, my friends, my organisation and football by making the decision I have. I have hurt the people who are most important in my life and who I love," he said.

"They have done nothing to deserve this. I am deeply sorry for all the hurt and embarrassment I have caused."

Lethlean was purportedly in a relationship with former AFL staffer Maddi Blomberg, the partner of Wallabies star Kurtley Beale, Nine sports reporter Danny Weidler has reported.