Two privacy watchdogs are investigating whether soccer's governing body, police and a NSW government agency breached the law by allowing fans' personal details to be published in a newspaper, along with allegations they had engaged in violence.
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The Sunday Telegraph prompted protests at most A-League games over the weekend after it had earlier reported details of "secret police files" containing photographs of 198 "soccer louts" banned from attending matches.
The article included some of the fans' names, photos and alleged misconduct – such as swearing or brawling – but the newspaper has since deleted the information from its website.
Few of the supporters named were charged with any offence, and some say they were banned wrongly by Football Federation Australia because they were mistaken for other people.
The FFA compiled the confidential list and shared it with, among others, NSW police and the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, a government agency that manages the home ground of A-League club Sydney FC.
All three organisations denied last week that their staff had leaked the list.
However, Australian Information Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said he would now contact the FFA, which is subject to federal privacy law.
"My office will be writing to Football Federation Australia to seek further information regarding this matter and their personal information-handling practices," he said.
Mr Pilgrim also urged any of the sport's supporters who felt concerned about how their personal details were used to contact his office.
Meanwhile, the NSW Privacy Commissioner, Elizabeth Coombs, is approaching the two NSW organisations – the state's police force and the SCG Trust – which fall under her jurisdiction.
However, she added that broad exemptions existed within the state's privacy legislation "for NSW police and law-enforcement generally".
She withheld her view on whether anyone's rights had been breached, saying: "I need to wait until I have better information on what has occurred."
"If correct, claims that innocent individuals may have been named publicly are concerning but it's important to review the facts of what has occurred and the evidence for these claims," she said.
"Until the facts are known, it's difficult to say with certainty [whether a breach has occurred] but, as a general response, the issue appears to go to whether the handling of personal information was in accord with NSW privacy legislation – possibly those provisions for collection, use and disclosure."
Dr Coombs also encouraged anyone who felt their details had been misused to contact her office.
The FFA said on Sunday it would find the source of the leak, which is likely to lead to a lawsuit against it and the newspaper, and possibly other organisations.
A-League head Damien De Bohun said: "We've been really disappointed with the leaking of confidential documents over last week in football and there's no question that we're going to work until we get to the bottom of it."
After the weekend's mass protests by fans, the FFA also promised to introduce an appeals process for banned spectators, which it had refused to consider for the past decade.
One of the banned fans, Julian Cumbo, told SBS last week he was sacked shortly after the article was published.
"My employer said to me, 'We can't have someone representing our company, dealing with customers on a regular basis who is portrayed in the media as a hooligan'."
Mr Cumbo said he had asked the FFA to review his ban but the organisation had said "the rules of procedural fairness and natural justice does not apply to our organisation".
