Rui Pinto to leave Portugal witness protection, says he faces assassination risk
Rui Pinto, the Portuguese computer hacker whose Football Leaks documents sparked the Premier League investigation into Manchester City, said on Friday he will be removed from Portugal's witness protection programme on 10 October. He posted on X that the decision has put him in a "life-threatening situation".
Pinto released a tranche of confidential football documents, including emails and financial records relating to Manchester City, and shared material with German magazine Der Spiegel in 2018. Manchester City were found guilty last week of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons; the club has appealed. Pinto entered Portugal's witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to co-operate with authorities and provide files obtained through the Football Leaks operation.
In his post, Pinto said the termination of his participation in the programme on 10 October had left him with no alternative but to relocate to an undisclosed location for an indefinite period because of "multiple death threats" and "the serious risk of an assassination attempt". BBC Sport has approached the Commission for the Protection of Victims of Crimes in Portugal for comment. Pinto wore a bulletproof vest during his first trial in 2020, which was held under heightened security measures.
Pinto was convicted in Portugal of offences including illegal access to data and attempted extortion and received a four-year suspended sentence. Earlier this year he was acquitted in a second trial of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to a number of sports bodies in Portugal, including Benfica. On Wednesday Pinto criticised Fifa president Gianni Infantino, saying he had "become a cancer on football" and should "have no place in the future of the game".
Pinto repeated allegations from 2018 that Infantino intervened to help Manchester City and Paris St-Germain avoid financial fair play sanctions from Uefa. The source says Infantino's position has recently come under increased pressure following controversial plans to sell stakes in the governing body's competitions, such as the World Cup, to private investors. A statement from Pinto's lawyers released on Friday said ending his participation in the witness protection programme left him at heightened risk and noted legal proceedings stemming from the leaks remained ongoing, including the case against Manchester City.
Pinto, who founded Football Leaks, has launched a fundraising page he says will help him "survive this serious situation", which he claims was "created by the Portuguese State". The termination of his witness protection is due on 10 October, he says he will relocate indefinitely to an undisclosed location, and the legal matters tied to the leaked documents — including Manchester City's appeal — remain active.