Sturt CEO Matt Benson shoots down rumours he was sacked from SANFL club Sturt chief executive Matt Benson is incensed at online rumours he was sacked from the position. STURT chief executive Matt Benson wants to make one thing quite plain - he was not sacked. Benson has bitten back at internet chatter and the rumour mongers who claim he was pushed from the role he held for five years. Benson says the "very offensive" claims are "news to me." He said he had weighed up his future for three months and chose to resign to "regenerate the batteries." His exit follows the club's debt demolition ball last week. "I told the chairman (Jason Kilic) six weeks ago that I was intending to move on before Christmas and I told the board last Tuesday (October 22)," Benson said. I've been pretty open about the fact that by the end of this year I'd be moving on for some time. I felt that after five years enduring an exceedingly tough environment commercially I'm washed out. I feel like it's time to move on. I was wanting to get through our debt demolition event last week and the end of this financial year, so I feel that I've ticked most of the boxes I wanted to tick before I leave. I have no doubt that there'll be a vast and vocal minority around the club that may have been pleased to see me go, but they have played no role in my decision at all. Kilic also said Benson chose to step down from the role. "We've been talking about this for about a year," Kilic said. It was part of a restructuring of management and part of a long-term plan. Kilic said the club would soon advertise the chief executive's position, but had not set a date to announce a successor. He said the club would announce its interim chief executive "shortly." Benson, who played 95 league and reserves games for Sturt in the 1980s, said he would "explore some opportunities" over the next few months.