Key Facts

• Rui Pinto is a 37-year-old Portuguese hacker and activist who created Football Leaks in 2015 to reveal wrongdoing in football.
• He obtained private documents showing Manchester City used fake contracts to hide financial problems and received secret money from its Abu Dhabi owners.
• The Premier League found Manchester City guilty of most charges related to financial misconduct and may punish the club with fines or expulsion.
• Pinto was arrested in 2019 for hacking and attempted extortion but was released after receiving a suspended sentence and some charges were dropped.
• He leaked over 70 million confidential documents, which helped expose financial violations by top football clubs, including Manchester City.
• Pinto was under witness protection since 2020 after agreeing to share his files with Portuguese authorities.
• Portuguese police have now removed his witness protection because they consider the risk to his safety to be low.
• Pinto's leaks also brought attention to other football-related scandals involving famous players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.