Rui Pinto, the Portuguese computer hacker behind the Football Leaks that triggered the Premier League investigation into Manchester City, is about to lose his witness protection, and he’s not just worried, he’s straight up fearing for his life. This dude, the founder of Football Leaks, dropped a ton of confidential documents, like emails and financial records linked to the English Premier League side, and now he’s saying his life is on the line.
The Bombshells That Shook Manchester City
Back in 2018, Pinto shared those documents with a German magazine, Der Spiegel, which then used them to dig into City’s finances and those alleged breaches of financial fair play rules. Fast forward to last week, and guess what? City got found guilty of *all* charges related to breaking the Premier League’s financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. Of course, they’ve already slapped in an appeal, but man, that’s a huge deal. This isn’t just some small fine, this is about the integrity of the game.
Witness Protection Gone, Life At Risk
Pinto entered Portugal’s witness protection program in 2020 after agreeing to work with authorities and hand over files from his Football Leaks operation. But now, it’s all ending. He posted on X last Friday, saying the decision to terminate his participation on October 10 has put him in a “life-threatening situation.” The 37-year-old hacker claims this leaves him with no choice but to dip out to some undisclosed spot indefinitely, all because of “multiple death threats” and a “serious risk of an assassination attempt.” Can you imagine? This guy wore a bulletproof vest during his first trial in 2020, which already had seriously jacked-up security. He’s been convicted of some stuff himself, like illegal access to data and attempted extortion, getting a four-year suspended sentence, but he was also acquitted earlier this year in a second trial on 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts for other sports bodies. His lawyers dropped a statement Friday too, reiterating that ending his protection seriously ups his risk, especially with legal proceedings from the leaks, including the Man City case, still rolling.
Pinto Turns His Fire on Fifa President Infantino
It doesn’t stop there, either. Just this past Wednesday, Pinto zeroed in on Fifa president Gianni Infantino. He straight-up said Infantino has “become a cancer on football” and shouldn’t “have no place in the future of the game.” Pinto brought up allegations from 2018, claiming Infantino jumped in to help City and Paris St-Germain dodge financial fair play sanctions from Uefa, European football’s governing body. Infantino’s already under a ton of heat lately, especially with those controversial plans to sell stakes in Fifa competitions, like the World Cup, to private investors. Pinto even set up a fundraising page to help him “survive this serious situation,” which he’s blaming on the Portuguese State. This whole saga with Pinto and City isn’t over. With his witness protection gone and the legal battles still raging, who knows what’s next? It’s a wild ride, and we’ll be watching every twist.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by BBC Sport.
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