St Kilda have confirmed that a file containing audio from the coaches' box during the Saints' pre-season win over Essendon was accidentally uploaded to a league-wide shared folder over the weekend.
The file was mistakenly uploaded instead of a muted version, immediately replaced once the club was aware of the error.
The Saints confirmed that senior coach Ross Lyon addressed his players over the incident, which the club attributed to human error.
"This upload occurred through human error, which was corrected as soon as we were notified," Acting General Manager of Football David Misson said.
"There is no certainty that this file has been accessed and downloaded by anybody, however, regardless of the low risk, we wanted to be on the front foot and proactive in our response."
"Our focus is on creating a program with high integrity, open communication and care for our people."
"As a matter of course, we addressed this issue directly with our playing group."
"As part of our response, we also alerted the AFL and relevant key stakeholders."
"We feel that this matter has now been resolved and our focus remains on our preparations for the season ahead."
"The club has also taken the opportunity to review its broader processes to reduce the likelihood of this error occurring again."
