Dutch football association the KNVB made a settlement with cybercriminals who stole personal details in April, reports RTL Nieuws.

The broadcaster claims that criminals had stolen and threatened to publish passport details of Dutch football players after a ransomware attack harvested data possibly including their private addresses and salaries. It claims that more than a million euros was demanded, although it is unclear how much was paid.

On its website, the KNVB said that it has not been able to ascertain precisely what data was stolen “which gave us a dilemma with no option that felt good”.

It said that preventing a possible gross infringement of privacy weighed more heavily than “the principle of not letting ourselves be blackmailed” and so it made “arrangements about not publishing and deleting the details.”

The data leak has been reported to those involved, it said, the incident has been reported to the police and the association has taken external advice on how to improve its security systems.