Rui Pinto, the creator of Football Leaks, has said Fifa president Gianni Infantino “should have no place in the future of the game”, repeating allegations about Infantino’s time as Uefa general secretary. Pinto, the 37-year-old Portuguese whose disclosures led to the Premier League investigation into Manchester City, made the statement in a message on X on Wednesday.
Manchester City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules over a nine-year period, though they continue to deny any wrongdoing and have until 2 October to submit an appeal. The Premier League investigation was launched after information released by the Football Leaks website in 2018, via German publication Der Spiegel, and following a separate investigation by Uefa, European football’s governing body.
Pinto repeated allegations from 2018 that Infantino intervened to help City and Paris St-Germain avoid financial fair play sanctions from Uefa. Der Spiegel reported that the clubs overvalued sponsorship deals to help meet FFP rules, and the allegations in the documents state that, when the clubs faced sanctions, Infantino helped arrange more lenient punishments for them in 2014. PSG said at the time that it “has always acted in full compliance with the laws and regulations enacted by sports institutions” and “denies the allegations”. The club added: “Since the introduction of Financial Fair Play, Paris St-Germain have been one of the most audited and scrutinised clubs in history.”
Pinto wrote: “Back in 2014, there was a man who was already aware of the irregularities involving Manchester City. The infamous Gianni Infantino, then Uefa general secretary, abused his authority, shared confidential documents and, in short, outmanoeuvred the investigatory chamber, doing everything in his power to ensure that both Manchester City and PSG would merely receive a fine, avoiding a deeper investigation that could have led to a Champions League ban. All of these details were also revealed through Football Leaks.” He added: “Given his actions as Uefa general secretary and, more recently, as Fifa president, I can only say, in my humble opinion, that Gianni Infantino has become a cancer on football and should have no place in the future of the game.”
When the allegations first surfaced, Uefa stressed that it was within the remit of the general secretary to assist in such matters. It said this “may include discussions, meetings, assistance to help find solutions, and other interactions to assist the [investigating body] in its work.” Infantino similarly said his “job entails having discussions, having conversations, exchanging documents, drafts, ideas, whatever, on many, many, many, many, topics.” He added: “So if then this is being portrayed as something bad, I think there’s not much I can do more than my job in an honest way, in a professional way and trying to defend the interests of football.” Fifa has been contacted for comment following Pinto’s latest statement.
Infantino has come under increasing pressure following his now-shelved plans to sell stakes in the World Cup. Uefa accused Infantino of “criminal mismanagement” over the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme, while the Swiss Football Association (SFV) is the latest association to withdraw its support for the Fifa president. “The decision follows a comprehensive reassessment of developments over the past few months,” an SFV statement read. “From the SFV’s perspective, various incidents raise fundamental questions regarding leadership, governance, transparency and decision-making processes within Fifa.” Both Fifa and Uefa are based in Switzerland. Infantino will stand for election for a fourth time in March 2027, with his opponents having until 18 November to find an alternative candidate.