Computer hacker Rui Pinto, the whistleblower whose leaks triggered an investigation into Manchester City Football Club, says he fears for his life after being told that his witness protection would end on October 10.
Pinto wrote in a social media post on Friday that he has received âmultiple death threatsâ and he would move to an undisclosed location over fears for his life.
âGiven these circumstances, I have no alternative but to relocate, within the next few days, to an undisclosed location for an indefinite period of time, due to the multiple death threats I have received and the serious risk of an assassination attempt against me,â Pinto wrote on X.
Pinto said he was informed on Wednesday that his witness protection programme from Portuguese authorities would end on October 10, âthereby knowingly placing me in a life-threatening situationâ.
The 37-year-old Portuguese founder of the website Football Leaks obtained private documents that showed City broke league rules from 2009 to 2018. An independent commission found City guilty of all but one of 115 charges brought against them over breaches of Premier League financial rules.
On Friday, City filed an appeal against the ruling as it seeks to overturn the decision and avoid potentially severe sanctions.
Pinto, a self-taught hacker and activist who has exposed some of the biggest scandals in football, has been a protected witness since August 2020 after agreeing to grant Portuguese authorities access to millions of files gathered before his arrest. His first trial in Portugal began a month later. He was given a suspended sentence for illegally obtaining documents, committing other cybercrimes and attempted extortion.
He has been vociferous about Cityâs financial misconduct scandal on social media since the commissionâs verdict was first reported last week. He has called the ruling a âhistoric decision for English footballâ.
âFor this reason, I have just set up a GoFundMe campaign and I am asking for everyoneâs support to help me survive this serious situation created by the Portuguese State, which, as I have already stated, has knowingly decided to place my life at risk.â
Pinto added his thanks to everyone who supported Football Leaks, which he founded in 2015 under the pseudonym âJohnâ before being unmasked in 2019.
âI can give everyone one guarantee: the fight will most certainly continue!â
Pinto faces âdire consequencesâ
Hours before Pintoâs post on Friday, his lawyers said he faces âdire consequencesâ after being told his witness protection would end.
Pinto âwas informed on Wednesday that the special security programme he has benefited from since August 2020 would end on October 10âł, his Portuguese lawyers Francisco and Luisa Teixeira da Mota said in a joint statement with his French representatives William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth.
âIn a few days, without having been given a prior hearing as required by law, he would lose the secure, confidential housing assigned to him and be forced to find a new home urgently, with no guarantee that police protection would be maintained,â they continued, describing the move as a âdecision with dire consequencesâ.
âThe threats against him are not merely theoretical; he was assaulted in Lisbon last April. His revelations implicated powerful figures with vast resources, and numerous resulting legal proceedings are still ongoing,â they noted.
âAbruptly deprived of his protected housing and plunged into extreme precariousness, Rui Pinto is reportedly more vulnerable now than at any time since 2020,â his lawyers added.
