Rui Pinto, the whistleblower whose leaked documents triggered an investigation into Manchester City Football Club, says he fears for his life after being told his witness protection will end on October 10.
The 37-year-old Portuguese founder of Football Leaks posted on X on Friday that the termination of his participation in Portugal's witness protection programme has placed him in a "life-threatening situation".
"Given 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," Pinto wrote.
Pinto said he was informed on Wednesday that the special security programme, which he has benefited from since August 2020, would end on October 10.
A joint statement from his Portuguese lawyers Francisco and Luisa Teixeira da Mota, along with his French representatives William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, described the move as a "decision with dire consequences".
"In 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," the lawyers said.
The lawyers noted that the threats against Pinto were not theoretical, stating he was assaulted in Lisbon last April. "His revelations implicated powerful figures with vast resources, and numerous resulting legal proceedings are still ongoing," they added.
"Abruptly deprived of his protected housing and plunged into extreme precariousness, Rui Pinto is reportedly more vulnerable now than at any time since 2020," his legal team said.
Pinto became part of Portugal's witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to grant Portuguese authorities access to millions of files gathered through the Football Leaks operation, which he founded in 2015 under the pseudonym "John" before being unmasked in 2019.
His leaked documents showed that Manchester City broke Premier League financial rules from 2009 to 2018. An independent commission subsequently 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.
Pinto has described himself as a whistleblower but was convicted in Portugal of offences including illegal access to data and attempted extortion, receiving a four-year suspended sentence. He wore a bulletproof vest during his first trial in 2020, which was also subject to heightened security measures.
Earlier this year, he was acquitted in a second trial of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to a number of sports bodies in Portugal, including Benfica.
Also on Wednesday, Pinto directed criticism at FIFA president Gianni Infantino, saying he had "become a cancer on football" and should "have no place in the future of the game". He repeated allegations from 2018 that Infantino had intervened to help Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain avoid financial fair play sanctions from UEFA.
Pinto has set up a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to help him, in his words, "survive this serious situation created by the Portuguese State, which, as I have already stated, has knowingly decided to place my life at risk."
He added his thanks to everyone who had supported Football Leaks and closed with a pledge: "I can give everyone one guarantee: the fight will most certainly continue!"
The Commission for the Protection of Victims of Crimes in Portugal had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
