One of Australia's most famous sports figures is caught up in shocking data leak that saw man charged with blackmail - and several footy stars have also been exposed

EXCLUSIVE

Numerous home grown sporting figures have been potentially caught up in the data leak that saw a Sydney man charged with blackmail - including one of the biggest names in Aussie soccer.

It comes after the 46-year-old allegedly threatened to expose more than one million identity records - including names, phone numbers and home addresses - of Australian club and pub patrons.

He was arrested at Fairfield West, in Sydney's west, on Thursday before being taken to Fairfield Police Station where he was charged with demand with menaces intend obtain gain/cause loss.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal Socceroos boss Graham Arnold is among the potential online victims, as are Central Coast Mariners club legend Matt Simon, current Socceroos defender Kye Rowles and Western Sydney Wanderers star Jack Clisby.

Former Newcastle Knights NRL halfback Mitchell Pearce, centre Bradman Best and prop Daniel Saifiti have also been caught up in the breach.

The sports stars from both codes provided their details at venues such as the Breakers Country Club at Wamberal on the NSW central coast, East Maitland Bowling Club and Gwandalan Bowling Club.

The breach involved IT group Outabox, whose services for various hospitality venues left the private data of more than one million Australians at risk of being made public.

Before his arrest, the man - who was granted bail to appear before Fairfield Local Court on June 12 - threatened to reveal countless identity records.

The website, uncovered this week, had published the details of people who used their drivers' licences and other personal details to sign in at 17 venues across NSW and the ACT.

It has prompted calls for better data handling and changes to mandates requiring all 1200 registered clubs in NSW to capture identity data of patrons.

Police said the breach was believed to be of a third-party provider.

Police are also urging patrons to wait until they are advised they have been affected by the breach before changing any personal details.

Privacy protection expert Philip Bos said the breach illustrates how Australians are often forced to hand over information to organisations that don't know how to handle confidential data correctly or safely.

Some affected clubs had already severed contracts with the third-party provider, including in one case because it was sending data offshore.

Registered clubs are required by law to document and store the personal details of patrons entering their venues in NSW.

If convicted, the alleged offender faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Daily Mail Australia contacted Graham Arnold for comment.