Sachi Dade filed the steven may partner privacy case against Melbourne on May 22, lodging a miscellaneous Federal Court application that names head coach Steven King and football general manager Alan Richardson. The move pushes a private dispute into a formal legal process and puts senior club figures inside the filings.
Sachi Dade and Melbourne
Dade is Steven May’s partner and the plaintiff in the application against the Melbourne Football Club. The source describes the matter as a privacy dispute, but the exact details of the alleged breach remain sealed under strict judicial protocols.
That narrow public record leaves the filings as the clearest known marker of the case so far: a club-level legal action tied to people at the top of football operations. King and Richardson are both named in the paperwork, which means the dispute reaches beyond a single private complaint and into the club’s leadership structure.
King and Richardson Named
The naming of King and Richardson is the central development inside the application. King is the head coach, while Richardson serves as football general manager, placing two senior Melbourne figures at the center of a case that is being handled through Federal Court procedures.
A Friday morning case management hearing is scheduled to set the structural path of the lawsuit. That hearing is expected to decide whether the allegations are argued in an open public forum or moved toward confidential mediation settlements.
Friday Morning Hearing
The timing adds pressure for Melbourne because the source says the lawsuit could destabilize the club during a critical phase of the 2026 athletic calendar. For supporters and club watchers, the immediate focus is not just the filing itself but the forum in which it will be handled and whether the dispute stays behind closed doors or moves into public view.
For now, the legal filings stand on one side of the story and the hearing on the other. What happens Friday morning will shape how much of the case is argued in public and how much is kept inside settlement talks.
