Rui Pinto, the Football Leaks founder whose documents fed into the Premier League’s case against Manchester City, is in talks with British authorities over a cooperation deal that would see him trade his help for protection.
According to the Guardian, the Serious Fraud Office has contacted the 38-year-old after it emerged he was willing to assist UK investigations in return for being protected. His lawyer, William Bourdon, confirmed contact had been made.
“I can confirm that the process is under way,” Bourdon said, without going into any more detail. Bourdon is no stranger to cases like this: his previous clients include Edward Snowden and Julian Assange.
What has the Serious Fraud Office said?
Officially, nothing. An SFO spokesperson said: “In line with long established practice to avoid prejudice to law enforcement activity, we can neither confirm nor deny any investigation into this matter.”
That is standard wording rather than a denial. The SFO receives more than 1,000 referrals a year and carries out enquiries before it decides whether anything becomes a formal investigation, so talks with Pinto’s camp are a long way from a case.
Still, the scale of what Pinto holds is the reason the SFO would be interested. Between 2015 and 2019 he gathered tens of millions of files, and if a deal is reached he could help identify possible tax offences and other irregularities involving football, law firms and powerful business figures that might otherwise never come to light.
Why does this matter to Man City?
Because Pinto’s name is tied to City’s darkest chapter. Football Leaks published millions of secret documents about some of the game’s biggest clubs and players, and material he collected later sparked the UEFA and Premier League investigations into City’s sponsorship agreements and contracts.
Those documents became relevant to the Premier League case that ended in September, when an independent commission found City guilty on more than 100 counts of breaking the league’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018. The commission said the club had hidden more than £900m of contributions from their Abu Dhabi ownership as sponsorship income from related parties. Other Premier League clubs have since pushed for City’s books from 2018 onwards to be opened up as well.
City have always denied wrongdoing and have appealed. The punishment is still to come, and the possibilities range from a huge financial penalty to relegation and, potentially, a forced sale of the club if the guilty verdicts stand. Pundits have floated everything from a 60-point deduction to outright expulsion, and others have asked why the City case has taken so long when Forest were punished quickly.
Nothing in Tuesday’s news changes the City ruling or the appeal. The SFO is a criminal fraud agency, not part of the Premier League process, and it has not said what, if anything, it would look at.
Who is Rui Pinto?
Supporters see him as a whistleblower who exposed corruption; critics see a hacker whose methods broke legal and moral lines. His leaks went far beyond City, taking in Cristiano Ronaldo’s tax affairs, plans by Europe’s leading clubs for a breakaway European Super League, and secret contract documents involving clubs such as Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. He was also the whistleblower behind Luanda Leaks, which exposed the business empire of Isabel dos Santos, who denied corruption allegations.
He was arrested by Portuguese police in Hungary in January 2019 and extradited. In 2023 he was handed a suspended four-year prison sentence in Portugal for attempted extortion and cybercrime offences. He was acquitted in a second case two years later, but the public prosecutor’s office and Benfica, one of the clubs he hacked, have appealed, and a higher court decision is still awaited.
French authorities hold the information he gathered. They had wanted to put him in a witness protection programme before his arrest, copied the contents of his devices in Budapest before his extradition, and have kept in contact with him since.
Why does he want protection?
On 30 September, days after the City verdict put his name back in the headlines, Pinto was told his six years in Portugal’s witness protection programme were ending. The decision had actually been taken in July, but he was given only 10 days’ notice. The authorities said there was no threat to his life, yet advised him not to give opinions on controversial subjects, to avoid crowded places and to limit time with his family.
He says he fears for his safety. The decision was suspended once it emerged he had not been given the chance to challenge it, and he is now waiting for a final ruling on his appeal.
Does the Pinto story hurt City’s appeal?
Not directly, and City fans should be careful not to read too much into it either way. The guilty verdict is already in, and the appeal will be fought on the commission’s findings, not on what Pinto does next.
What it does do is keep the origins of the case in the news at the worst possible moment. Maresca’s side have lost three league games in a row and are waiting on a punishment that could reshape the club, and the man whose leaks started it all is now offering his archive to a UK fraud agency. Even if the SFO never opens a case, that is one more story City would rather not be having during an international break meant for regrouping.
