The whistleblower whose confidential document leaks led to Manchester City being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules has concluded his latest trial. Rui Pinto, the 37-year-old Portuguese hacker behind the Football Leaks website, faced a court in Lisbon where security was tight but scaled back from earlier proceedings.
Pinto founded Football Leaks in 2015 and later provided over three terabytes of data to a European media consortium. The trove included internal Manchester City emails concerning sponsorship deals and payments. This evidence was central to the Premier League bringing 115 charges against the club in February 2023. An independent commission subsequently found City guilty of the majority of those counts.
The Lisbon trial
Pinto's latest trial began in January last year at the Central Criminal Court in Lisbon. He arrived with members of a witness protection team, two of whom remained in the courtroom, and an armed police presence was noted. Local journalist Miguel Dantas explained security had been reduced from Pinto's first trial, where he wore a bulletproof jacket and snipers were positioned on the roof. For this hearing, Pinto wore a blue long-sleeved top, jeans, and brown boots, sporting spiky hair and some facial stubble. He could not give his address in court for security reasons.
The hacker's legal troubles are extensive. He was arrested in Hungary in 2019. In 2023, he received a four-year suspended sentence in Portugal for attempted extortion, illegal data access, and breach of correspondence. A separate trial in France a few months later resulted in a six-month suspended prison term.
A divisive figure
Reactions to Pinto's actions are sharply divided. Former Portuguese football federation president Rui Patricio called him "no more, no less than a burglar" who obtained information by "illegal and condemnable methods". Conversely, lawyer Teixeira da Mota accepted Pinto was "not a hero and not a saint" but argued he brought "advantages for society".
Support for his whistleblowing role came from German journalist Christoph Winterbach. "Rui Pinto is one of the most important whistleblowers that we have in Europe or maybe the world," Winterbach said. Former MEP Ana Gomes was blunt about the clubs exposed, stating, "I couldn't care less. If they have nothing to hide, what's their problem?"
The revelations continue to cast a long shadow over Manchester City even as the team enjoys a perfect start to the new season. The club sits first in the Premier League standings with 15 points from five wins, three points clear of Arsenal. The team's current form shows five consecutive victories, with their goal minutes showing a strong pattern of scoring early and late. They will look to continue this form in their next fixture, a home match against Chelsea, as they handle a busy fixtures schedule.
Further reading: BBC Sport Football
