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Portuguese computer hacker Rui Pinto, whose leaked documents helped trigger the Premier League investigation into Manchester City, is set to lose his witness protection despite claiming he faces threats to his life.
Pinto, founder of Football Leaks, released confidential football documents, including emails and financial records linked to Manchester City.
In 2018, he shared the documents with German magazine Der Spiegel, which used them in investigations into City’s finances and alleged breaches of financial fair play regulations.
Last week, Manchester City were found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. The club has appealed the verdict.
Pinto joined Portugal’s witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to cooperate with authorities and hand over files obtained through his Football Leaks operation.
However, the 37-year-old said on Friday that his participation in the programme would end on October 10, leaving him in a “life-threatening situation”.
He said the decision had forced him to relocate to an undisclosed location indefinitely because of what he described as “multiple death threats” and a “serious risk of an assassination attempt”.
BBC Sport has contacted Portugal’s Commission for the Protection of Victims of Crimes for comment.
Pinto has described himself as a whistleblower but was previously convicted in Portugal of offences including illegal access to data and attempted extortion. He received a four-year suspended sentence.
During his first trial in 2020, Pinto wore a bulletproof vest amid heightened security measures.
Earlier this year, he was acquitted in a separate trial involving 241 allegations of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to sports organisations in Portugal, including Benfica.
Pinto has also made allegations involving FIFA president Gianni Infantino, claiming in 2018 that Infantino intervened to help Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain avoid financial fair play sanctions from UEFA.
On Wednesday, Pinto renewed his criticism of Infantino, saying the FIFA president had “become a cancer on football” and should have “no place in the future of the game”.
A statement from Pinto’s lawyers said ending his witness protection had increased the risks facing him, noting that legal proceedings connected to the leaked documents were still ongoing, including the case involving Manchester City.
Pinto has also launched a fundraising campaign to help him cope with what he described as a serious situation created by the Portuguese state.
