Football Leaks founder Rui Pinto has lost his protected witness status in Portugal just days after the Premier League found Manchester City guilty of 114 financial charges, reigniting scrutiny over the whistleblower's safety and the fallout from his explosive revelations.
Key Highlights
- Portuguese authorities have revoked Rui Pinto's protected witness status after determining the current threat to his safety is low.
- Pinto's Football Leaks revelations helped trigger a nine-year investigation into Manchester City's financial practices.
- The whistleblower launched a fierce attack on Manchester City and FIFA president Gianni Infantino following the Premier League verdict.
- Manchester City have until Friday, October 2, to lodge an appeal against the guilty verdicts.
Protection Withdrawn for Pinto
According to The Guardian, Portuguese authorities have officially revoked Rui Pinto's protected witness status. The 37-year-old hacker, who founded the Football Leaks website, entered the state protection programme in 2020 after giving police access to millions of confidential files.
The decision comes despite a physical assault in Lisbon last April that left Pinto with a bruised eyebrow. Local police have reportedly assessed the current threat to his safety as low, while advising him to significantly restrict his social media activity and remain cautious during interactions with his family.
The withdrawal of state protection comes shortly after the Premier League found Manchester City guilty of 114 financial charges.
Pinto's initial data dump, which was shared with Der Spiegel in 2018, became a major catalyst for the subsequent nine-year investigation into Manchester City's financial practices.
Pinto Blasts Manchester City and Infantino
Following Tuesday's landmark verdict, Pinto took to social media to deliver a scathing assessment of Manchester City's hierarchy. He described the ruling as a "historic decision for English football" and accused the club's executives of operating without accountability for almost a decade.
In a post on X, Pinto argued that Manchester City had shown a lack of respect for football's rules, regulatory bodies, competition integrity, other clubs and supporters. He concluded that years of what he described as "cheating, lying and manipulation" would finally have consequences.
Pinto also turned his attention to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, referring to Infantino's previous role as UEFA general secretary. The whistleblower alleged that Infantino bypassed established channels to protect Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain from serious European sanctions in 2014.
Pinto went further in his criticism, saying that, in his opinion, Infantino had become a "cancer on football" and should have no place in the game's future.
AFP
Football Leaks Fallout Continues
Pinto remains a controversial figure in world football. Transparency advocates have credited his revelations with exposing financial practices within the sport, while he also has a criminal conviction in Portugal. In September 2023, Pinto received a suspended four-year prison sentence for attempted extortion, illegal data access and breach of correspondence.
His Football Leaks revelations have continued to have significant repercussions across the sport. Manchester City previously overturned a UEFA Champions League ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2020, but the club subsequently faced a separate domestic investigation by the Premier League.
The Premier League ruled this week that Manchester City had disguised more than £900 million in funding through what it described as "sham" commercial contracts and false accounting.
Manchester City Await Appeal
Manchester City now have until Friday, October 2, to formally lodge an appeal against the Premier League's guilty verdicts. While the club prepares for the next stage of the case, Pinto faces a very different development after losing his state protection.
With potential punishments for Manchester City still to be determined, the decision to withdraw security from one of the figures at the centre of the club's long-running financial saga has added another layer to the fallout from the verdict.
