Rui Pinto, the whistleblower whose leaked documents led to an investigation into Manchester City, says he fears for his life after being told that his witness protection in Portugal will end on October 10.
The 37-year-old said he had received “multiple death threats” and would move to an undisclosed location indefinitely because of the risk to his safety.
“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,” Pinto wrote on X.
He said he was informed on Wednesday that the protection programme provided by the Portuguese authorities would be withdrawn, “thereby knowingly placing me in a life-threatening situation”.
Lawyers warn of ‘dire consequences’
Pinto’s lawyers said he had not been given a prior hearing and would lose the secure, confidential accommodation assigned to him. They said he would be forced to find a new home urgently, with no guarantee that police protection would continue.
In a joint statement, his Portuguese representatives Francisco and Luisa Teixeira da Mota and French lawyers William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth described the decision as having “dire consequences”.
They said the threats were not theoretical, claiming Pinto was assaulted in Lisbon in April. His revelations had implicated powerful figures with substantial resources, they added, while several resulting legal proceedings remained ongoing.
“Abruptly deprived of his protected housing and plunged into extreme precariousness, Rui Pinto is reportedly more vulnerable now than at any time since 2020,” the lawyers said.
Pinto has been a protected witness since August 2020, after agreeing to give Portuguese authorities access to millions of files he had gathered before his arrest. His first trial in Portugal began the following month, and he received a suspended sentence for illegally obtaining documents, other cybercrimes and attempted extortion.
The self-taught hacker founded Football Leaks in 2015 under the pseudonym “John” and was unmasked in 2019. The documents he obtained showed alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules by Manchester City between 2009 and 2018.
An independent commission found Manchester City guilty of all but one of 115 charges brought against the club. City filed an appeal on Friday in an effort to overturn the ruling and avoid potentially severe sanctions.
Pinto has described the verdict as a “historic decision for English football”. He has also launched a GoFundMe campaign, asking for support to help him through what he called the serious situation created by the Portuguese state.
“I can give everyone one guarantee: the fight will most certainly continue!” he said.
