Rui Pinto: The Hacker Who Changed Football's Financial Landscape

Mention Rui Pinto to many Manchester City fans and they might not recognize the name.

But this Portuguese hacker has been key in one of football’s biggest financial scandals through Football Leaks, the site he set up to share secret documents from clubs, players, and agents.

The Premier League’s financial charges against Manchester City, which the club denies and plans to appeal, are linked to documents Pinto released through Football Leaks, PUNCH Online reports.

According to BBC on Saturday, the leaked documents contained internal emails about sponsorship deals and payments involving Manchester City. These emails played a big part in the Premier League’s financial case against the club.

But Pinto’s story is not just about Manchester City.

The 37-year-old has spent years in a debate over whether he should be seen as a criminal hacker or a whistleblower who revealed what he calls “the hidden side of football.”

His journey started in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the Douro River from Porto, where he grew up.

His former geography teacher, Mario Falcao, remembers him as a regular student with a special skill for computers.

“Rui was a perfectly normal pupil. He was nice, with his spiky hair. He was quite sociable but not extrovert,” Falcao said.

“He had a good relationship with the teachers, although he did miss classes quite often. His father was always on top of things, so in the end, he passed quite easily.”

Falcao noted that Pinto was especially talented with computers.

“Certainly, he was very good in computers. All the work that he did for various courses was very good when he put his mind to it,” he said.

As a young man, Pinto led a fairly normal life, according to his former teacher.

Falcao recalled that he would “go to the gym, go to McDonald’s.”

Pinto grew up in a humble family. His father, Francisco, worked in a shoe factory before becoming an antiques dealer, while his mother passed away when he was 11.

Falcao said he never thought his student would become famous through Football Leaks.

“We were very surprised,” he said when Pinto was revealed as the founder of Football Leaks in 2019.

“We weren’t imagining anything like this could happen, that he could have problems with justice.

“I certainly wouldn’t wish him and his family to be in this situation. Maybe it was a question of the excesses of youth, his computer skills, and perhaps an excess of club loyalty.”

“So, you know, the fact that he supported FC Porto may have pushed him to commit some acts, but maybe he also felt the need for justice that young people often feel.”

How Football Leaks began

Pinto started Football Leaks in 2015 to expose “the hidden side of football.”

Portuguese journalist Antonio Varela was the first journalist Pinto reached out to. He used the name “John” because his real identity was not known at first.

“It was a normal day in September 2015. I was in the newsroom at Record and got an email from Football Leaks. It was strange. Then I quickly checked the site, and I couldn’t believe there was so much information I had never heard or read before. We concluded this is very, very important.”

The material raised questions for journalists about whether information obtained illegally could still be published if it served the public interest.

“We realized that [Football Leaks] got the information illegally. But from the moment they published it on the site, it became public information,” Varela said.

“You can’t ignore that. Ethically, it’s complicated, but the public interest is more important than the ethical issue. That was the conclusion.”

Football Leaks initially focused on Portuguese clubs, including Benfica and Pinto’s team, FC Porto.

It later expanded to documents and communications involving some of football’s biggest stars, like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Neymar.

Millions of documents

Pinto eventually connected with Rafael Buschmann, a journalist at the German magazine Der Spiegel.

After deciding he could trust Buschmann, Pinto shared tens of millions of documents with him.

A team of journalists at Der Spiegel in Hamburg then sifted through the material, creating reports that gained global attention.

Christoph Winterbach, a data journalist involved in the project, remembered seeing the documents for the first time.

“At first, it felt like a child in a candy store,” he said.

“If you’re a football fan or a sports journalist, it was amazing to see the actual documents, to see those emails where things are negotiated and to get a real look behind the curtain.”

But Winterbach noted that the journalists had to verify the authenticity and relevance of the material before they could publish it.

“It’s very important when you have this kind of documents that you do a lot of cross-checks. We used software that helped put everything into context and check for reliability issues.

“We always need to make sure it’s authentic, and anything we publish needs to be in the public interest.”

Pinto eventually provided over three terabytes of information to Der Spiegel and others in the European Investigative Collaborations group.

Winterbach met Pinto in person in 2019 while he was in prison in Lisbon awaiting trial.

He later interviewed him again in witness protection at a secret location.

Describing Pinto, Winterbach said: “Rui Pinto is not very tall. He has very distinctive hair, like spiky hair. He usually has red cheeks and is a youthful, cheeky, funny character. He’s friendly and warm when you meet him.

“He’s very focused, very intelligent, and very idealistic about the topics he uncovered.

“He’s one of the most important whistleblowers we have in Europe or maybe the world.”

Hacker or whistleblower?

Pinto’s actions have led to very different opinions.

Former Portuguese politician and diplomat Ana Gomes has testified for him and said he should be protected as a whistleblower.

“What he has exposed is very important. In Portugal, he is by far the most important whistleblower,” Gomes said.

“He should be an ally of our judicial and criminal investigative authorities. He has helped authorities in other European countries go after the corrupt instead of being the subject of prosecution by our public prosecutors.”

When asked about Manchester City, whose emails were hacked by Pinto, Gomes said:

“I couldn’t care less. If they have nothing to hide, what’s their problem?”

But not everyone shares this view.

Retired journalist Jose Carlos Freitas said: “For most people, they see him as a thief. For some, he is like a hero, a Robin Hood, you could say, because he was exposing the dark side of many clubs. But sadly, for most, he is not a good person.”

Varela offered a more balanced view.

“Nowadays, I think I place him in the middle [between whistleblower and criminal hacker] because he got the information illegally. But he gave us a dark view of European football, so he did a job for society, albeit illegally.”

Arrest, convictions and witness protection

Pinto’s actions have had serious consequences for him.

He was arrested in Hungary in 2019 and was sent back to Portugal. Over the next years, he spent time in solitary confinement, was placed under house arrest, and later entered witness protection.

After his first trial in Portugal, Pinto received a four-year suspended sentence in 2023 after being found guilty of attempted extortion, illegal access to data, and breach of correspondence.

A separate trial in France resulted in a six-month suspended prison sentence.

At a later trial in Lisbon, his security arrangements showed the attention his case drew.

He arrived with members of his witness protection team while armed police were present in court.

Rui Patricio, the lawyer for Benfica, described Pinto in court as “no more, no less than a burglar.” He said he obtained information through “illegal and condemnable methods.”

Outside court, Patricio stated: “Our argument is very simple. He’s a hacker, period. What he did is not allowed, it’s a crime, and there are no excuses.”

Pinto’s lawyer, Francisco Texeira da Mota, agreed that his client was “not a hero and not a saint” but argued that he had brought “advantages for society.”

The Manchester City connection

Football Leaks eventually became linked to the Premier League’s case against Manchester City.

Pinto has watched the case from witness protection since the Premier League charged the club in February 2023.

When asked if the outcome mattered to Pinto, Texeira da Mota said:

“I think it’s important for him because it's hard to live like he does, more or less hiding, because he made some revelations, he whistle-blowed many important things, especially about [Manchester City].

“So it would matter for him to feel validated that it was useful, that something happened because of what he said.”

Former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson said the outcome of the Premier League case could significantly affect the club if the main allegations are proven.

“I think for City, the whole Sheikh Mansour era is at stake if those core allegations are proven against the club.

“I think the consequences could be far-reaching for the club, and it would be tough for them to handle.

“Over time, clearly, there would have to be some kind of reset. In many ways, the Premier League is a loser either way.”

But Borson rejected the idea that Pinto should be seen as a freedom fighter.

“We know that what he did was a criminal act and he has been prosecuted for it.

“We also know that hackers like him try to reframe themselves as defenders of freedom of speech. But once those documents are public, it’s up to the authorities to act.”

The debate over Pinto remains split between those who focus on how he got the information and those who care about what the information revealed.

But the impact of Football Leaks has gone far beyond Portugal.

From a computer in Budapest, Pinto became a key player in a story that brought secret football documents into the open and helped shape some of the biggest financial scandals in modern football.