Rui Pinto loses protected-witness status in Portugal

Rui Pinto, the man behind Football Leaks, has been told he is no longer a protected witness in Portugal and has been advised to use caution with family contacts and avoid social media, according to documents seen by The Guardian. The decision was made on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old had been under protection since 2020, when he agreed to provide Portuguese authorities access to millions of files gathered before his arrest. Portuguese police have assessed the threat to his safety as low, despite an assault in Lisbon in April that left him with a bruised eyebrow; police were informed, but no complaint was filed.

In September 2023, Pinto received a suspended four-year sentence after being found guilty of attempted extortion, illegal access to data and breach of correspondence. His leaks of private documents helped trigger separate UEFA and Premier League investigations into Manchester City’s finances. City ultimately overturned its Champions League ban via CAS, but the Premier League found them guilty on Tuesday over 114 charges across nine seasons, linked to disguising more than £900m in funding through alleged sham commercial contracts and false accounting. City’s appeal deadline is Friday. Pinto has been active on social media since the ruling, calling it “a historic decision for English football,” while also attacking City executives and accusing FIFA president Gianni Infantino of ensuring City and Paris Saint-Germain were only fined under UEFA’s FFP rules when he was general secretary.