Portugal Suspends Decision to End Rui Pinto's Witness Protection, Gives Football Leaks Founder 10 Working Days to Respond

Since Manchester City's guilty verdict in the Premier League financial case, attention has turned to the man whose leaked documents set the inquiry in motion. On Friday, Oct. 9, Portugal's Ministry of Justice suspended the decision to strip Rui Pinto of his witness protection, a day before it was due to end.

Pinto, 37, is the founder of Football Leaks. He had been scheduled to leave the programme on Saturday, Oct. 10.

Why the order was suspended

The ministry's statement said the special security programmes commission, known as CPES, did not adequately notify Pinto of its grounds for ending the programme. It also did not give him the opportunity to challenge the decision. The earlier resolution was nullified on that basis, and the protection stays in place pending a new decision.

The ruling is procedural. It does not say the commission's conclusion was wrong. It says the process was.

The commission's case and Pinto's answer

The commission maintains that its risk assessments point to a low threat to Pinto's safety. The relevant meeting took place on July 9. Pinto was told on Sept. 30 that his protected status was ending.

He will now receive the risk assessment reports. He has 10 working days to review the documentation behind the decision and respond to its reasoning and conclusions. The commission is expected to reconsider the matter afterward.

Pinto disputes the threat assessment. His lawyers said last week that the proceedings were irregular and pointed to what they called the real threats facing their client. He was assaulted in Lisbon last April. He says he received multiple death threats and had to move to a secret location. Before Friday's reversal, he described the ruling ending his protection as putting him in a "life-threatening situation" and launched a fundraising campaign to secure his financial future.

On social media, Pinto thanked Justice Minister Rita Alarcão Júdice for overturning the decision. He said the commission members "acted in clear violation of the law and in a manifest abuse of power." He added that the restoration of legality does not repair his trust in them. In his words, their conduct is "clearly contrary to the principles that should guide a witness protection programme."

Pinto's lawyers argue that the authorities must weigh his cooperation with the justice system and the risks tied to his disclosures before withdrawing protection.

Who Pinto is

Pinto has been a protected witness since April 2020. Portuguese police placed him under protection after he agreed to give investigators access to millions of files from football clubs, companies linked to Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, and other entities suspected of criminal activity. Dos Santos denies corruption allegations.

He was arrested in Hungary in January 2019 and extradited to Portugal. He spent more than a year in pre-trial detention before agreeing to cooperate.

He is not a simple figure. He describes himself as a whistleblower, but a Portuguese court handed him a four-year suspended sentence in September 2023. The offences were attempted extortion, illegal access to data and breach of correspondence. During his first trial he admitted hacking computers to obtain the documents. Earlier this year he was acquitted of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to Portuguese sports bodies, including Benfica.

His material, shared with a consortium of European media outlets, led to tax adjustments and judicial investigations in several countries. In 2018 he passed documents to Der Spiegel, which used them for reporting on City's finances and alleged breaches of financial fair play rules. His disclosures have also informed the Premier League's inquiry. He continues to cooperate with investigators in other European countries.

What comes next

City were found guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. The club has appealed. The Portuguese protection case is a separate legal track with its own clock.

It is not yet clear what CPES will do after Pinto's response. The commission could reaffirm its low-threat finding and end the programme again, this time with notice and a hearing. The ministry has not said when the new decision is due. Pinto's 10 working days to respond will set the pace.