Portugal to end Rui Pinto’s witness protection programme participation on 10 October

Rui Pinto, the Football Leaks founder whose material helped prompt investigations into Manchester City’s finances, is due to leave Portugal’s witness protection programme on 10 October after a decision reported on 30 September. The change affects measures that have sheltered him since 2020, while the question of continued police protection remains unresolved, according to Portuguese outlet Observador.

The Guardian reported that Portuguese authorities decided on Wednesday to remove Pinto’s protected-witness status, citing documents its journalists had seen. Observador reported separately that the Commission for Special Security Programmes voted unanimously to end his participation. Observador said it confirmed an account first reported by Portuguese broadcaster SIC.

Why Portugal is ending Rui Pinto’s protection programme participation

Observador said the commission acted after the intelligence services reassessed Pinto’s level of risk. It identified the commission’s chair as Orlando Romano, a former head of Portugal’s Judicial Police and national director of its Public Security Police. No commission decision document is available in the cited reporting, so the precise terms of the decision rest on the outlets’ accounts.

The Guardian reported that Portuguese police judged the risk to Pinto’s safety to be low. Its account also described an assault on him in Lisbon in April, after which he was left with a bruised eyebrow. The police were informed, the Guardian said, but no complaint was filed. The reported risk assessment therefore does not mean that Pinto has faced no recent threat.

Which measures end on 10 October, and what remains unclear

Observador said Pinto will cease to benefit from programme measures including residence at a secret location, an arrangement it said had been in place since August 2020. The 10 October date is prospective: as of 1 October, the reported end of his programme participation has not yet taken effect. The available accounts do not itemise every measure he currently receives.

Police protection is a separate open question. Observador said SIC reported that it was not yet clear whether Pinto would also lose that protection. The available account does not establish a final decision on police security after 10 October. It would be premature to describe him as losing every form of protection when the reported programme exit takes effect.

In a 2020 statement, Portugal’s Judicial Police said Pinto’s protection expenses were covered under the witness protection programme. The police also said he was not employed by the force and received no salary from it. That statement explains how his protection was funded at the time; it does not set out the terms of the newly reported decision.

How Football Leaks connects Pinto to Manchester City

The Guardian reported that Pinto agreed to give Portuguese authorities access to millions of files gathered before his arrest, and that he had been a protected witness since 2020. It said information concerning Manchester City’s finances reached Der Spiegel and its European Investigative Collaborations partners through Pinto, helping to prompt separate inquiries by UEFA and the Premier League.

That history explains why a change in Pinto’s security arrangements attracts attention beyond Portugal. His programme status concerns his personal protection under Portuguese arrangements. Neither the Guardian nor Observador reports that the commission’s decision changes evidence, findings or proceedings in the separate football investigations. The decision’s reported basis is the reassessment of risk to Pinto.

Pinto’s own legal history is distinct from those football inquiries. The Guardian reported that he received a suspended four-year sentence in September 2023 after convictions for attempted extortion, illegal access to data and breach of correspondence. Its account also said he called a recent Premier League decision concerning City ‘historic for English football’. That was Pinto’s reaction to the football case, not an explanation from Portuguese authorities for ending his programme participation.

The immediate issue is what happens when the reported 10 October exit arrives. Observador identifies the loss of the secret-location measure but leaves police protection unsettled. Until that question is resolved, the clearest account is that Portugal’s special programme is due to end for Pinto, while the extent of any security arrangements afterward has not been established in the published reporting.