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Rui Pinto Says His Life Is in Danger After Portugal Ends Witness Protection

Saturday, October 03, 2026

Rui Pinto, the Portuguese hacker whose leaks helped start the Premier League's case against Manchester City, is set to lose his witness protection, and he says his life is now in danger.

Pinto, who founded Football Leaks, posted on X on Friday that the decision to end his place in the programme on October 10 has left him in a "life-threatening situation". 

The 37-year-old said he has no choice but to move to an undisclosed location for an indefinite period because of "multiple death threats" and "the serious risk of an assassination attempt". 

He wrote: "On Wednesday, just hours after the verdict officially confirming Manchester City’s guilt, the Commission responsible for Portugal's witness protection programme informed me of its decision to terminate my participation in the programme and withdraw my police protection, thereby knowingly placing me in a life-threatening situation.

"Given these circumstances, I have no alternative but to relocate, within the next few days, to an undisclosed location for an indefinite period of time, due to the multiple death threats I have received and the serious risk of an assassination attempt against me.

"For this reason, I have just set up a GoFundMe campaign and I am asking for everyone's support to help me survive this serious situation created by the Portuguese State, which, as I have already stated, has knowingly decided to place my life at risk.

"I would like to take this opportunity to extend a special thanks to everyone who continues to support Football Leaks, and I can give everyone one guarantee: the fight will most certainly continue!"

A statement from his lawyers on Friday said ending the protection puts him at higher risk, as legal cases linked to the leaks are still going, including the one against City. 

"Rui Pinto, the whistleblower who was at the origin of Football Leaks, was notified last Wednesday that the special security program from which he has benefited since August 2020 will end on October 10. In just a few days, without having been heard beforehand, as the law requires, he will lose the protected and confidential residence that was assigned to him and will be forced to urgently find new housing, with no guarantee that police protection will be maintained," the statement read.

"His situation is now critical. The threats against him are not merely theoretical: last April, he was assaulted in Lisbon. His revelations involved powerful figures with vast resources, and many of the resulting judicial proceedings are still ongoing, as evidenced by the decision issued just a few days ago by the Premier League's independent commission regarding Manchester City. Abruptly deprived of his protected residence and placed in a situation of extreme precariousness, Rui Pinto will now be more vulnerable than at any other moment since 2020.

"Rui Pinto cooperated with Portuguese justice, and it was precisely that cooperation that justified his inclusion in a protection program. His revelations, used by numerous judicial, fiscal, and sporting authorities across Europe, starting with France, have contributed to strengthening transparency and integrity in football. The States that benefited from his actions cannot simply turn their backs on the person who took the necessary risks to bring these facts to light.

"In accordance with the law, an administrative appeal will be filed against this decision, with suspensive effect. Rui Pinto's lawyers, trusting that the Portuguese authorities would give due consideration to his situation, requested last Wednesday from the Ministry of Justice that it reconsider this decision, disclose the elements of the risk reassessment on which it was based, hear their client, and ensure, in any case, the continuity of his protection. To date, no response has been received.

"This decision and the way it was taken regrettably do not respect the rule of law and constitute an act of state terrorism. We cannot accept it."

Pinto released a large batch of confidential football documents, including emails and financial records about City. In 2018 he shared files with German magazine Der Spiegel, which used them to investigate the club's finances and possible breaches of financial fair play rules. He joined Portugal's witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to work with the authorities and hand over files from the Football Leaks operation.

Last week, City were found guilty of all charges linked to breaking the Premier League's financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. The club has appealed.

Pinto calls himself a whistleblower, but a Portuguese court convicted him of offences including illegal access to data and attempted extortion, and gave him a four-year suspended sentence. He wore a bulletproof vest at his first trial in 2020, which also had extra security. Earlier this year, a second trial cleared him of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts of sports bodies in Portugal, including Benfica.

[Man City Officially Appeal Guilty Verdict in Premier League Financial Case]

On Wednesday, Pinto went after FIFA president Gianni Infantino, saying he had "become a cancer on football" and should "have no place in the future of the game". He repeated claims from 2018 that Infantino helped City and Paris Saint-Germain avoid financial fair play punishments from UEFA. 

Infantino is under growing pressure over his controversial plan to sell stakes in FIFA competitions, such as the World Cup, to private investors.

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