02/10/2026
Rui Pinto, the founder of Football Leaks who leaked Manchester City’s emails and financial records to German magazine Der Spiegel in 2018 — material that later formed part of the Premier League’s investigation into the club’s alleged financial rule breaches — says he fears for his life after losing his witness protection.
Pinto says Portugal’s Witness Protection Commission informed him on September 30, just hours after City were found guilty, that his participation in the programme would end on October 10 and that police protection had been withdrawn. Portuguese police reportedly assessed the risk to him as low.
Last Wednesday, Pinto also described FIFA president Gianni Infantino as “a cancer to football” and repeated his 2018 allegations that Infantino intervened to help Manchester City and PSG avoid UEFA Financial Fair Play sanctions.
Pinto has now launched a fundraising campaign with a €3 million target, saying the money will help him relocate to an undisclosed location.
📝 BBC Sport | The Guardian