Protection withdrawn for Pinto

According to The Guardian, Portuguese authorities have officially revoked Pinto’s protected witness status. The 37-year-old hacker, who founded the Football Leaks website, originally entered the state protection programme in 2020 after granting police access to millions of confidential files.

Despite a physical assault in Lisbon last April which left Pinto with a bruised eyebrow, local police have controversially deemed the current threat to his safety as low. Officials have reportedly advised the Portuguese national to strictly limit his social media usage and remain vigilant during family interactions.

This abrupt withdrawal of security arrives immediately after the Premier League found Manchester City guilty of 114 financial charges. Pinto’s initial data dump, shared with Der Spiegel in 2018, served as the primary catalyst for the nine-year investigation into the Etihad club’s accounting practices.

Blasting City and Infantino

Following Tuesday’s landmark verdict against City, Pinto took to social media to deliver a brutal assessment of the club’s hierarchy. He branded the ruling a “historic decision for English football” and accused Etihad executives of operating with complete impunity for nearly a decade.

“From the very beginning, they have demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the rules, for the bodies responsible for overseeing and regulating the game, for the integrity of the competition, for the other clubs and, above all, for the fans,” Pinto wrote on X. He concluded his assessment by stating that “years and years of cheating, lying and manipulation will finally have consequences.”

Pinto also launched a furious tirade against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, referencing the official’s previous tenure as UEFA general secretary. He alleged that Infantino actively bypassed proper channels to shield both City and Paris Saint-Germain from severe European sanctions in 2014.

“Given his actions as UEFA general secretary and, more recently, as FIFA president, I can only say, in my humble opinion, that Gianni Infantino has become a cancer on football and should have no place in the future of the game,” he posted.

The fallout from Football Leaks

Pinto remains a highly divisive figure within the global game. While heavily praised by transparency advocates for uncovering widespread financial manipulation, he also carries a criminal record. In September 2023, he received a suspended four-year prison sentence in Portugal for attempted extortion, illegal data access, and breach of correspondence.

His revelations have continually shaken the sport’s establishment. While City managed to successfully overturn a previous UEFA Champions League ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2020, they could not escape domestic scrutiny.

The Premier League ultimately ruled this week that the English giants disguised more than £900 million in funding through ‘sham’ commercial contracts and false accounting.

Awaiting the appeal

Manchester City now face a race against time to challenge the Premier League’s explosive ruling. The club have until Friday, October 2, to officially lodge an appeal against the guilty verdicts.

Meanwhile, Pinto will be forced to navigate his new reality without state protection. As the footballing world awaits the final confirmation of City’s impending punishments, the whistleblower’s safety remains a topic of intense public scrutiny.