Rui Pinto faces loss of witness protection after Manchester City financial ruling

Football Leaks whistleblower Rui Pinto is set to lose his witness protection status in Portugal, with his lawyers warning that his life could be at risk days after Manchester City were found guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial regulations.

Pinto entered Portugal’s witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to co-operate with authorities and hand over files obtained through the Football Leaks investigation.

His legal team said on Friday that the protection programme would end on Saturday October 10. They said Pinto had not been given the opportunity to be heard before the decision and could soon lose both his confidential accommodation and police protection.

“In a few days, without being heard beforehand, as required by law, he would lose the protected, confidential residence assigned to him and be forced to find new housing urgently, with no guarantee that police protection will continue,” his lawyers said in a statement posted on his X account.

“His situation is now critical. The threats against him are not merely theoretical; he was assaulted in Lisbon last April.”

Pinto was arrested in Hungary in 2019 and extradited to Portugal. He later began co-operating with authorities and was placed under witness protection.

Football Leaks began publishing confidential football documents in 2015, including transfer agreements, contracts and other deals involving clubs, players and agents. Data seen by Reuters showed how some of football’s wealthiest and most prominent figures avoided tax by directing earnings offshore.

The disclosures helped trigger scrutiny of Manchester City’s finances. An independent commission found the club guilty of all charges relating to Premier League financial regulations over nine seasons, from 2009-10 to 2017-18. City were also found guilty of three of four charges relating to failures to co-operate with the investigation.

The Premier League said City had used “sham” commercial contracts to inflate revenue and understate costs by more than £900m (R19bn) across almost a decade. It said the conduct resulted in inaccurate financial reporting and breaches of spending rules. City denied wrongdoing and have appealed against the verdict.

Pinto’s lawyers said legal proceedings linked to the Football Leaks disclosures remained ongoing, including the recent Manchester City case.

“If abruptly deprived of his protected housing and plunged into a state of extreme precariousness, Rui Pinto would be more vulnerable now than at any time since 2020,” they said.

Portugal’s justice ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ruling has also drawn political criticism in the UK. Liberal Democrats culture, media and sport spokesperson Anna Sabine has urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to publish details of meetings with Manchester City owners, Abu Dhabi representatives and related organisations.

Burnham, who was mayor of Greater Manchester from May 2017 to June 2026, said earlier this week that City’s owners had been “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester” and in “turning the club into a global force”. He also expressed concern that they could sell the club.

In a letter to Burnham, Sabine said: “Football fans up and down the country deserve to know that the rules apply to everyone, however rich and powerful they are.”

She called for details of every meeting and conversation with City Football Group, Abu Dhabi United Group or UAE government representatives, including any hospitality received.