Football Leaks Whistleblower Rui Pinto Seeks UK Protection in Exchange for Assistance

Rui Pinto, the founder of the Football Leaks platform, has opened discussions with British authorities to assist with investigations into financial and sporting crime in the United Kingdom. In exchange for his cooperation, the 38-year-old Portuguese national is seeking formal police protection from British law enforcement. Pinto gained prominence after releasing confidential documents that triggered a major Premier League investigation.

His lawyer, William Bourdon, stated that the process is under way following contact regarding security arrangements. The Serious Fraud Office declined to verify details of the talks, stating that in line with long-established practice to avoid prejudice to law enforcement activity, we can neither confirm nor deny any investigation into this matter. Pinto subsequently shared reports of the contacts on his social media account.

The whistleblower previously obtained roughly 70 million internal documents detailing financial operations across European football. Those disclosures led an independent Premier League commission to find Manchester City guilty on all but one of 115 charged breaches of financial regulations between 2009 and 2018.

The overture to British law enforcement follows uncertainty surrounding Pinto's security status in Portugal, where he has held protected witness status since August 2020 after granting prosecutors access to his encrypted files. In October, the Portuguese witness protection commission decided to end his state security details, leading Pinto to launch a public campaign to fund an anonymous relocation. The Portuguese Ministry of Justice later extended his protection pending a new review hearing after his legal counsel contested the decision.

Pinto faced legal proceedings in Lisbon over his methods, receiving a four-year suspended sentence in September 2023 for cybercrime and attempted extortion. In April 2026, a Portuguese court acquitted him on 241 separate counts after ruling that those specific charges were invalid.

Written by Thorben Thiede thorben.thiede@alpineweekly.com