Portuguese computer hacker Rui Pinto, the founder of Football Leaks, will remain under witness protection after authorities in Portugal suspended a decision to end it. Pinto had been scheduled to leave the protection programme on Saturday, a ruling he previously said had put him in a “life-threatening situation”.
Pinto, 37, disclosed a tranche of confidential football documents, including emails and financial records relating to Manchester City. In 2018 he shared documents with the German magazine Der Spiegel, which used them for investigations into City’s finances and alleged breaches of financial fair play rules. The material helped trigger the Premier League’s investigation into the club.
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 have appealed against the decision.
Pinto became part of Portugal’s witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to co-operate with authorities and provide information obtained through the Football Leaks operation. On Friday, Portugal’s Ministry of Justice said the decision to remove him from witness protection had been reversed for the time being. It said the special security programmes commission, the body responsible for the programme, had not adequately “notified” Pinto of the grounds for its termination or given him the opportunity to challenge the decision.
Pinto will now be given 10 days to assess a risk assessment conducted by the commission that indicates a low threat to his safety. He posted on X to thank Portugal’s Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, saying the commission’s initial decision had clearly violated the law and amounted to a “manifest abuse of power”.
Pinto has described himself as a whistleblower, but he was convicted in Portugal of offences including illegal access to data and attempted extortion, and given a four-year suspended sentence. He wore a bulletproof vest during his first trial in 2020, which was also subject to heightened security measures. Earlier this year, he was acquitted of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to a number of sports bodies in Portugal, including Benfica.