Rui Pinto: The Whistleblower Behind Manchester City's Downfall Loses Witness Protection

Portuguese hacker and activist Rui Pinto, the man whose leaked documents helped expose Manchester City's financial misconduct, has lost the witness protection he had held since 2020, according to reports emerging this week.

The 37-year-old founder of the Football Leaks website was informed by Portuguese authorities on Wednesday that police now assess his personal safety risk as low, the Guardian newspaper reported. The decision comes just days after Manchester City was found guilty of all but one of 115 Premier League charges related to financial rule breaches.

Pinto's leaking of confidential documents played a pivotal role in triggering the Premier League's investigation into City's financial affairs. The documents he obtained revealed that the club had broken league rules between 2009 and 2018.

According to the Premier League, City's violations included the use of "sham" commercial contracts designed to artificially inflate club revenues while reducing costs by more than 900 million pounds, equivalent to approximately 1.2 billion dollars. The league stated that these schemes involved secret funding from the club's Abu Dhabi-based ownership.

The verdict, delivered last week, represents what Pinto himself has described as a "historic decision for English football." Manchester City denies any wrongdoing and is expected to file an appeal by Friday. Potential sanctions range from financial penalties to expulsion from the Premier League.

Born and raised in Vila Nova de Gaia, a city near Porto, Pinto's journey to becoming one of football's most consequential whistleblowers began far from the glitzy world of English Premier League football. His initial hacking activities targeted Portuguese clubs Benfica and FC Porto, focusing on matters much closer to his home.

What makes Pinto's story remarkable is his largely self-taught expertise in computing. He never received formal advanced education in the field, yet his technical skills proved sophisticated enough to penetrate some of football's most closely guarded financial secrets. A former geography teacher recalled Pinto as being "very good with computers" and expressed astonishment when his former student was revealed as the founder of Football Leaks in 2019.

Pinto established Football Leaks in 2015, operating under the pseudonym "John." His stated mission was to expose what he called "the principal protagonists in the dishonest football industry." For several years, his identity remained unknown as the website published a steady stream of revelations that shook the football world.

His anonymity ended in January 2019 when Hungarian authorities arrested him in Budapest pursuant to a European court order. The charges included alleged attempted extortion and cybercrimes. Following his arrest, Pinto was extradited to Portugal in March 2019, where he remained in pre-trial detention until April 2020.

The legal consequences have been complex and at times contradictory. In September 2023, Pinto received a four-year suspended sentence after being convicted of illegally obtaining documents, committing other cybercrimes, and attempted extortion. However, in a significant legal development in April 2026, he was acquitted on 241 separate counts in a second trial after the court determined the charges were "invalid."

A separate French trial in 2023 resulted in a six-month suspended sentence for Pinto related to hacking the emails of Paris Saint-Germain executives, demonstrating the international scope of his activities and the varied legal responses they provoked.

The revelations from Pinto's leaks extended far beyond Manchester City. They exposed the salaries of football superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar, shining an unprecedented light on the astronomical sums paid to elite players. Perhaps most significantly, the leaks brought global attention to a rape allegation lawsuit involving Cristiano Ronaldo, which was later dismissed by a United States judge.

Between 2016 and 2018, Pinto leaked more than 70 million confidential documents to newspapers affiliated with the European Investigative Collaborations consortium. These documents covered some of the biggest clubs, players, and organizations in world football. The material ultimately formed the evidentiary basis for the Premier League's charges against Manchester City, while European football's governing body UEFA launched its own separate investigation.

Pinto's cooperation with authorities led to his entry into witness protection in August 2020, when he agreed to grant Portuguese authorities access to millions of files he had gathered before his arrest. His first trial in Portugal commenced just one month later.

The BBC has reported that since his extradition to Portugal, Pinto has experienced various forms of confinement, including solitary confinement, house arrest, and witness protection at different points. Despite being assaulted in April, police have now deemed his safety risk sufficiently low to justify ending his protected status.

Authorities have nonetheless advised Pinto to "exercise caution with family contacts" and to avoid social media, suggesting that some concern for his wellbeing persists even as formal protection ends.

Since Manchester City's guilty verdict was announced, Pinto has been outspoken on social media. He characterized the outcome as a "historic decision for English football" and launched a scathing critique of the club's conduct.

"From the very beginning, they have demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the rules, for the bodies responsible for overseeing and regulating the game, for the integrity of the competition, for the other clubs and, above all, for the fans," Pinto wrote on X following the verdict. He added that "years and years of cheating, lying and manipulation will finally have consequences."

In a separate statement made just hours before his witness protection was revoked, Pinto directed criticism at FIFA President Gianni Infantino, describing him as "a cancer on football" who "should have no place in the future of the game."

The timing of Pinto's loss of protection raises questions about the treatment of whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing in powerful institutions. While his leaks have been vindicated by the Manchester City verdict, Pinto now faces an uncertain future without the security arrangements that have shielded him for the past six years.

For Manchester City, the coming days will be crucial as the club prepares its appeal. The case has already become a landmark moment in Premier League history, representing the most serious financial misconduct findings ever levelled against a top-flight club. The outcome will likely shape how English football regulates its wealthiest participants for years to come.

For Pinto, the man who sacrificed his freedom and safety to expose these secrets, the verdict represents a form of vindication even as his personal circumstances grow more precarious. His legacy as the whistleblower who brought Manchester City to account appears secure, even as the legal and personal consequences of his actions continue to unfold.