Rui Pinto keeps witness protection as Portugal orders fresh review

Rui Pinto, the Football Leaks founder whose disclosures helped prompt the Premier League investigation into Manchester City, will remain under witness protection in Portugal while authorities reconsider whether to end the programme. Portugal’s Justice Ministry confirmed the move on Friday, with BBC Sport reporting that his protection had previously been due to stop on Saturday.

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The ministry said the special security programmes commission had failed to properly inform Pinto of the reasons for ending his protection or ensure he could challenge the proposed action. After the justice minister met the commission on October 8, the body declared its September 22 decision invalid, along with the subsequent procedure and the notification sent on September 30.

Pinto will now receive a fresh notification, the report reassessing his risk and relevant material from the commission’s meeting records. The ministry said he would have ten working days to respond to the proposed decision and its grounds. His protection remains in force until the commission reaches a new decision, rather than ending under the timetable previously communicated to him.

The next ruling will follow that process and consideration of any response he submits. The ministry’s announcement therefore leaves the longer-term outcome unresolved: the commission will still decide whether the programme should continue or close. The immediate change concerns the procedure used to reach that decision and Pinto’s opportunity to answer it.

BBC Sport reported that Pinto, 37, entered the witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to cooperate with Portuguese authorities and supply information from Football Leaks. He had shared confidential football documents with German magazine Der Spiegel in 2018, including emails and financial records connected to Manchester City. The magazine used the material to investigate the club’s finances and alleged financial fair play breaches.

According to BBC Sport, City have appealed after being found guilty of charges concerning Premier League financial regulations covering the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons. Pinto’s protection review is a separate Portuguese process. Friday’s ministry statement addressed his security arrangements and the steps required before those arrangements can be changed.