Rui Pinto is the Portuguese computer hacker behind Football Leaks, the website that published a cache of confidential club documents and internal emails about sponsorship deals and payments. His leaks played a central role in the Premier League’s case against Manchester City, which has now seen the club found guilty of the majority of the 115 counts it faced.
Pinto, 37, founded Football Leaks in 2015 with the aim of exposing what he called ‘the hidden side of football’. The site first drew attention in September 2015 when Portuguese journalist Antonio Varela, then working at Record, received an email from someone using the pseudonym ‘John’. Varela quickly realised the material was significant. The early leaks focused on Portuguese clubs, including Benfica and Porto, before expanding to documents and communications involving figures such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar. Varela acknowledged that the information had been obtained illegally, but argued that once it was published it became public information and that the public interest outweighed the ethical problem.
Pinto later agreed to meet Rafael Buschmann of the German magazine Der Spiegel. Once he knew he could trust him, he shared tens of millions of documents. A team at Der Spiegel’s Hamburg headquarters, including data journalist Christoph Winterbach, cross-checked the material before publishing some of the most explosive articles the football world has seen. In total, Pinto provided more than three terabytes of information to Der Spiegel and other outlets in the European Investigative Collaborations consortium. Winterbach described him as focused, intelligent and idealistic, calling him one of the most important whistleblowers in Europe or the world.
His background is modest. He grew up in Vila Nova de Gaia, just across the Douro River from Porto, in a street of tile-fronted houses with terracotta roofs. His father, Francisco, worked in a shoe factory and later as an antiques dealer. His mother died when he was 11. His former geography teacher, Mario Falcao, remembers a normal, sociable but not extroverted pupil who was very good with computers and missed classes quite often. Falcao said Pinto supported FC Porto and suggested his actions may have come from a mix of youth, computer ability, club loyalty and a young person’s need for justice.
Opinions on Pinto are sharply divided. Former Portuguese politician and diplomat Ana Gomes, who has met him in prison and testified on his behalf, believes he should be protected as a whistleblower rather than prosecuted. She has said he should be treated as an ally of judicial and criminal investigative authorities. Asked what she would say to Manchester City, she replied: ‘I couldn’t care less. If they have nothing to hide, what’s their problem?’ Retired journalist Jose Carlos Freitas said that for most people Pinto is seen as a thief, while some view him as a hero or a Robin Hood figure. Varela said he places Pinto somewhere in the middle, because he obtained information illegally but also exposed a dark view of European football.
The legal consequences have been severe. Pinto was arrested in Hungary in 2019, extradited to Portugal and has at various points been in solitary confinement, under house arrest and in witness protection. In 2023, following his first trial in Portugal, he received a four-year suspended sentence after being found guilty of attempted extortion, illegal access to data and breach of correspondence. A separate trial in France led to a six-month suspended prison sentence a few months later.
In January last year, his latest trial began at Lisbon’s Central Criminal Court. Pinto arrived with members of his witness protection team, two of whom stayed in the courtroom, alongside armed police. He wore a blue long-sleeved top, jeans and brown boots, had his distinctive spiky hair and some facial hair, and was largely expressionless. He confirmed details such as his name and age but said he could not give his address for security reasons. Local journalist Miguel Dantas noted that security was scaled back compared with the first trial, when Pinto wore a bulletproof jacket and snipers were on the roof.
In court, Benfica’s lawyer Rui Patricio called Pinto ‘no more, no less than a burglar’, arguing that the information was obtained by illegal and condemnable methods and that the ends did not justify the means. Outside court he added: ‘He’s a hacker, period, just like that. What he did is not allowed – it’s a crime and there are no excuses.’ Pinto’s lawyer, Francisco Texeira da Mota, accepted that his client was ‘not a hero and not a saint’ but said he had brought advantages for society.
The impact of Football Leaks is still being felt. The Premier League’s case against Manchester City has been one of unprecedented scale and significance. Pinto has been closely monitoring it from witness protection since the charges were brought in February 2023. His lawyer said it would be important for Pinto to feel vindicated that his revelations were useful. Stefan Borson, a former financial adviser to Manchester City, said before the decision was announced that if the core allegations were proven, the whole of the Sheikh Mansour era would be at stake and the consequences could be far-reaching, requiring some kind of reset. Borson also argued that the Premier League would be a loser either way, and that Pinto should not be seen as a warrior for freedom, saying he carried out a criminal act and was prosecuted for it.
For some, Pinto is a criminal hacker who stole information with sinister intentions. For others, he is a heroic whistleblower who exposed the darker side of football. What is undeniable is that one Portuguese man, working from his computer in Budapest, has had a seismic impact on global football.