Confidential player payment information from five south-west football clubs has been accessed by a rival club, it has emerged.
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The Standard has seen an AFL Victoria document sent to affected South West District Football Netball League players stating that representatives of Westerns Football Club gained access to a restricted "salary cap portal".
The document reveals salary cap information of Branxholme-Wallacedale, Cavendish, Coleraine, Dartmoor and Heywood players had been accessed by an unauthorised party on September 22.
It said "individual player declarations relating to players of the affected clubs and their names and player payment details" were viewed.
The AFL Victoria letter said a human error, by a third party software provider incorrectly provided a representative of Westerns with access.
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It also confirmed that no other restricted player information, including bank details, had been acquired in the breach.
AFL Victoria was provided with an activity report which confirmed what had been accessed.
AFL Victoria community football development manager Stephen O'Donohue confirmed the breach.
He declined to answer a series of questions from The Standard at this stage but AFL Victoria did release a statement.
"AFL Victoria is aware of a data breach involving the SWDFNL," it read.
"The breach occurred as a result of human error by a third-party software supplier.
Following this incident, AFL Victoria has shut down the portal and is currently in the process of undergoing a review of the third-party portal to ensure the portal protects personal information."
Westerns president Adam Hawke said he was made aware of the breach via social media on Friday morning but declined to comment on the issue at this stage until he understood the situation completely.
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Sean Hardeman
I'm a sports journalist for the Warrnambool Standard who covers a number of different sports across the south-west of Victoria. I enjoy watching cycling, surfing, football, soccer and Formula 1.
I'm a sports journalist for the Warrnambool Standard who covers a number of different sports across the south-west of Victoria. I enjoy watching cycling, surfing, football, soccer and Formula 1.
