{"id":15437,"date":"2026-11-11T11:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T11:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=15437"},"modified":"2026-11-11T11:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T11:44:14","slug":"man-city-whistleblower-rui-pinto-could-help-uk-uncover-more-sporting-crime-football-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=15437","title":{"rendered":"Man City whistleblower Rui Pinto could help UK uncover more sporting crime | Football News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rui Pinto is \u2018in talks\u2019 with UK authorities to help uncover more crime in exchange for police protection, reports say.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Football whistleblower Rui Pinto<\/a>, whose leaks triggered an investigation into Manchester City\u2019s financial misconduct<\/a>, has held discussions with authorities in the United Kingdom over a new role in helping uncover financial and sporting crime in the country, reports in British media say.<\/p>\n

Pinto\u2019s lawyers have been contacted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) after he stated he would be willing to assist UK authorities with investigations in exchange for police protection, British newspaper The Guardian reported on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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Al Jazeera sought confirmation of Pinto\u2019s reported contact with the authorities, but the SFO did not confirm whether the whistleblower was in talks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn line with long-established practice to avoid prejudice to law enforcement activity, we can neither confirm nor deny any investigation into this matter,\u201d the SFO said in an emailed statement to Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Pinto appeared to confirm the reports of his discussions with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) by reposting an article on his social media<\/a> account.<\/p>\n

The 38-year-old is the founder of the website Football Leaks, which obtained private documents that showed City broke league rules from 2009 to 2018, leading to a probe by the Premier League\u2019s independent commission.<\/p>\n

City were found guilty of all but one of 115\u00a0<\/a>charges\u00a0brought against them over breaches of Premier League financial rules.<\/p>\n

Pinto\u2019s lawyer, William Bourdon, who has represented other high-profile whistleblowers including Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, was quoted by the Guardian as saying: \u201cI can confirm that the process is under way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pinto said last month that he feared for his life<\/a> after being told his witness protection programme would end on October 10 and launched a crowdfunding initiative to help him establish an anonymous new life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Commission responsible for Portugal\u2019s witness protection programme informed me of its decision to terminate my participation in the programme and withdraw my police protection, thereby knowingly placing me in a life-threatening situation,\u201d he wrote in a social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this reason, I have just set up a GoFundMe campaign and I am asking for everyone\u2019s support to help me survive this serious situation created by the Portuguese State, which, as I have already stated, has knowingly decided to place my life at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the Portuguese Ministry of Justice said it would extend his protection<\/a> pending a new hearing, after Pinto\u2019s lawyers challenged the decision.<\/p>\n

\"(FILES)
\u2018Football Leaks\u2019 whistleblower Rui Pinto is escorted by judicial officers as he arrives at the Metropolitan Court in Budapest, Hungary, for a trial on March 5, 2019 [Ferenc Isza\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reports last month said Pinto had reached out to UK authorities to offer cooperation in ongoing investigations in exchange for security measures being placed around him.<\/p>\n

Pinto said at the start of his trial in April 2020 that he was \u201cproud\u201d to be a whistleblower on European football clubs\u2019 big-money dealings.<\/p>\n

The former history student and self-taught computer expert faced 90 charges \u2013 from unauthorised access to data and violation of correspondence to attempted extortion \u2013 in the case heard at Lisbon\u2019s Central Criminal Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t consider myself a hacker. I am a whistleblower,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cThe revelations are serious and I\u2019m proud; there\u2019s no shame. I haven\u2019t done anything for money,\u201d added Pinto, who acknowledges releasing 70 million documents on football\u2019s backroom workings.<\/p>\n

He was given a four-year suspended sentence in September 2023 for illegally obtaining documents, committing other cybercrimes and attempted extortion. He was later acquitted on 241 separate counts in a second trial in April 2026 after the court ruled the charges were \u00ad\u00ad\u201cinvalid\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pinto has been a protected witness since August 2020 after agreeing to grant Portuguese authorities access to millions of files gathered before his arrest. His first trial in Portugal began a month later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Rui Pinto is \u2018in talks\u2019 with UK authorities to help uncover more crime in exchange for police protection, reports say. Football whistleblower Rui Pinto, whose leaks triggered an investigation into Manchester City\u2019s financial misconduct, has held discussions with authorities in the United Kingdom over a new role in helping uncover financial and sporting crime in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t