Man City whistleblower Rui Pinto offers to help UK if protected
Rui Pinto, the whistleblower whose leaks led to Manchester City being found guilty of more than 100 financial charges, says he is ready to help UK authorities if they can keep him safe.
Pinto, 37, is the founder of Football Leaks, a website that published secret documents from inside football. Thousands of private files he obtained showed City broke league rules between 2009 and 2018, prompting the Premier League investigation, according to Al Jazeera.
An independent commission, a panel appointed to decide the case, has since ruled that City used “sham” contracts to inflate income by £900m. City deny wrongdoing and have confirmed they will appeal. That appeal process is where Pinto says he could assist.
His priority is to cooperate provided adequate security arrangements are in place, according to The Guardian. He is willing to continue as a protected witness in another country.
Safety is now his central concern. Pinto has been under a special protection programme in Portugal since August 2020. That status has been removed. His lawyers described the situation as critical.
He plans to leave Portugal over safety fears. He has been advised not to return home and not to contact family members. He says he will go into hiding for an indefinite period.
Pinto was arrested in Budapest in January 2019. Days earlier, he had been negotiating entry into a witness protection programme in France. French officers copied the contents of all electronic devices he had with him between his arrest and his extradition to Portugal.
His legal position in Portugal is complex. He received a four-year suspended sentence in September 2023 for cybercrimes and attempted extortion, meaning no jail time unless he reoffends, according to The Athletic. He was then acquitted of 241 counts in a second trial in April. His lawyers appealed against the decision to end his protection and said they received no reply about how the risk assessment was carried out.
He has cooperated sporadically with French, German and Belgian authorities in the past. If he is no longer a protected witness in Portugal, he will be free to cooperate with authorities in other countries from 10 October.
A crowdfunding campaign to fund his new life after leaving police protection had raised more than €19,000.
For fans, this means the City case may still have another chapter. The football is settled for now, with a verdict given and an appeal promised. The human story behind the documents is not settled at all.
