The Portuguese hacker who released documents that helped trigger the Premier League’s investigation into Manchester City will remain in witness protection after Portuguese authorities suspended a decision to end the program.
Football Leaks founder Rui Pinto was scheduled to exit the protection program on Saturday, a move he had warned would place him in a life‑threatening situation.
The 37‑year‑old disclosed a trove of confidential football documents, including emails and financial records related to the English Premier League side.
In 2018 he shared the documents with German magazine Der Spiegel, which used them for investigations into Manchester City’s finances and alleged breaches of the league’s financial fair‑play regulations.
Manchester City were recently found guilty 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 the ruling.
Pinto joined Portugal’s witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to co‑operate with authorities and provide information gathered during the Football Leaks operation.
However, a statement on Friday from Portugal’s Ministry of Justice said the decision to remove Pinto from witness protection had been temporarily reversed, because the commission responsible for the programme – the Special Security Programmes Commission – had failed to adequately notify him of the termination grounds or give him a chance to contest the move.
Pinto will now have ten days to review a risk assessment conducted by the Special Security Programmes Commission, which indicates a low threat to his safety.
He posted on X thanking Portugal’s Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Judice, and said the commission’s initial decision had clearly violated the law and amounted to a ‘manifest abuse of power’.
Pinto describes himself as a whistleblower, but was convicted in Portugal of offences including illegal data access and attempted extortion, receiving a four‑year suspended sentence.
He wore a bulletproof vest during his first trial in 2020, which was also held under heightened security measures.
Earlier this year he was acquitted of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to several sports bodies in Portugal, including Benfica.