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Sport

Manchester City whistleblower Rui Pinto goes into hiding after protection ends

Rui Pinto, the Football Leaks whistleblower whose documents led to the Premier League's case against Manchester City, says he is going into hiding after his witness protection was withdrawn, citing death threats and the risk of an assassination attempt.

By Tom Ellery · · 1 min read

Rui Pinto, the whistleblower whose Football Leaks disclosures led to the Premier League’s case against Manchester City, says he is going into hiding after Portugal ended his witness protection, citing death threats and what he called the “serious risk of an assassination attempt”.

Pinto, 37, was told on Wednesday that Portugal’s witness protection programme would be terminated on 10 October. Portuguese authorities confirmed the decision — first reported by the Guardian — less than two hours after Pinto publicly criticised Fifa president Gianni Infantino. He has been a protected witness since 2020, living in a secret safe house with no job, home or income, and was advised to “exercise caution with family contacts” and stay off social media.

In a statement on X on Friday, Pinto said: “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.”

He said the decision had “knowingly” placed his life at risk and announced a GoFundMe campaign to support him. His lawyers said ending his participation in the programme leaves him at greater risk because legal proceedings stemming from the leaks are still under way, including the case against Manchester City.

Pinto’s leaks of more than 70 million documents to the European Investigative Collaborations consortium became the basis of the Premier League’s charges against City. An independent commission last week found the club guilty of more than 100 breaches of financial rules.

Sources: The Scottish Sun, Al Jazeera, BBC Sport

More on this topic: all Sport stories

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