Football leaks whistleblower Rui Pinto faces loss of protection, lawyers warn
Rui Pinto, the whistleblower behind Football Leaks, is set to lose the special protection arrangements he has received in Portugal since 2020, according to a statement from his legal team.
The warning comes days after the reported ruling against Manchester City on 114 charges. Pinto’s disclosure of confidential documents helped trigger the Premier League investigation into the club’s financial affairs.
Having agreed to cooperate with the authorities and provide material obtained through Football Leaks, Pinto entered Portugal’s witness protection programme in 2020. The arrangements included security and accommodation at a confidential location.
His lawyers now say those measures are due to end on October 10 and have announced plans to challenge the decision.
“Rui Pinto, the whistleblower behind ‘Football Leaks’, was informed on Wednesday that the special security programme he has benefited from since August 2020 will end on October 10,” said the statement, which Pinto shared publicly. “Within days, without prior consultation, as required by law, he will lose the protected, confidential residence assigned to him and will be forced to find new accommodation urgently, without any guarantee that police protection will continue.”
The legal team described the situation as “very serious”, citing threats against Pinto and an alleged physical assault in Lisbon in April last year.
They argued that the continuing consequences of his disclosures made the withdrawal of protection particularly concerning.
“His situation is now critical. The threats against him are not merely theoretical; he was assaulted in Lisbon in April last year. His revelations have implicated powerful figures with enormous resources, and many related legal proceedings are still ongoing, as demonstrated by the ruling issued a few days ago by the Premier League’s independent commission concerning Manchester City. Suddenly deprived of protected accommodation and placed in an extremely precarious position, Rui Pinto is now more vulnerable than at any time since 2020.”
The statement links the need for continued protection to the scale of the interests affected by Football Leaks. It does not identify those responsible for the threats or alleged assault.
Pinto’s lawyers said they had already asked Portugal’s Ministry of Justice to reconsider and to disclose the risk assessment underlying the decision.
“Under the law, an administrative appeal with suspensive effect will be lodged against this decision. Rui Pinto’s lawyers, trusting that the Portuguese authorities will give thorough consideration to their client’s circumstances, asked the Ministry of Justice last Wednesday to review the decision, disclose details of the risk reassessment on which it was based, ensure that their client is heard and guarantee, in all circumstances, the continuation of protection for their client. No response has been received to date.”
That proposed appeal is intended to challenge the withdrawal before Pinto loses access to his protected accommodation. His legal team maintains that the process has failed to give him an adequate opportunity to respond or sufficient clarity about his future security.
The lawyers concluded with a forceful criticism of the authorities’ handling of the matter.
“This decision and the manner in which it was taken, regrettably, do not respect the rule of law and constitute state terrorism. We cannot accept that.”
The immediate focus is now on whether the authorities will reconsider the arrangements before October 10. For Pinto’s legal team, the central issue remains ensuring that protection continues while the risks they have identified are properly assessed.
