Rui Pinto keeps witness protection after Portugal annuls decision to end it

Rui Pinto, whose Football Leaks disclosures helped prompt a Premier League investigation into Manchester City, will remain under witness protection in Portugal after the justice minister annulled a decision to end his security programme. The protection had been due to expire on 10 October. The decision, reported on 9 October, keeps the programme in force while the commission responsible for it considers the matter again.

Portugal’s Ministry of Justice said Pinto had not been properly told why the programme was to close or given an opportunity to respond. The reversal addresses those procedural failures. It does not settle whether the programme should continue after the commission completes a new review.

Why Portugal reversed Rui Pinto’s protection decision

RTP reported that the Special Security Programmes Commission, known as CPES, declared its 22 September decision void, along with the procedure that followed and the notification sent to Pinto on 30 September. The earlier decision would have ended the programme on 10 October. The commission’s new decision will determine whether protection continues beyond this interim period.

The annulled decision followed commission meetings on 8 June and 9 July, according to RTP. The Guardian reported that a risk assessment cited by the commission indicated a low threat to Pinto’s safety. That describes the commission’s assessment; the procedural reversal is not a new public finding about how much danger Pinto faces.

What Pinto can review before the next decision

The commission will give Pinto the risk reassessment report and relevant material from its meeting minutes, RTP reported. He will then have 10 working days to comment on the proposed decision and its grounds. Only after he has had that opportunity will the commission decide whether to maintain or end the programme.

No date for that final decision is established in the available reports. The 10-working-day period is Pinto’s time to respond, rather than a reported deadline for the commission’s ruling. For now, the programme remains in effect under the annulment of the previous decision.

According to the Guardian’s account of a statement Pinto posted on social media, he welcomed the justice minister’s reversal but criticised the commission’s conduct and said he had lost confidence in its members. His reaction concerns the handling of the withdrawal; the new review remains the commission’s responsibility.

Why the protection matters to the Football Leaks source

Pinto has had protected-witness status since 2020, after agreeing to cooperate with Portuguese authorities and provide access to millions of files. RTP reported that benefits of the programme included a residence at a secret location under police protection, identity documents, transport and subsistence support. The reports do not separately detail how each measure is being applied during the interim period.

His disclosures have had consequences beyond the protection dispute. Al Jazeera and AFP reported that Football Leaks material helped trigger the Premier League investigation into Manchester City. Their report said an independent commission found City guilty of all but one of 115 financial-rule charges. That football case is context for Pinto’s prominence; the Portuguese decision concerns the process for reviewing his safety arrangements.

Pinto has also faced criminal convictions over how he obtained information. RTP reported that a Portuguese court imposed a four-year suspended sentence in September 2023 for attempted extortion, aggravated breach of correspondence and illegal access. It reported a further six-month suspended sentence in France in November 2023 for illegally accessing Paris Saint-Germain emails. His status as both a convicted defendant and a cooperating protected witness is central to the history of the programme.

The Guardian reported that Pinto remains willing to cooperate with British authorities on investigations involving Manchester City and matters arising from his disclosures, and that he provided millions of documents to French investigators. The immediate question in Portugal is narrower: after Pinto receives the review material and has a chance to respond, will the commission keep his security programme or end it?