Rui Pinto is reportedly prepared to assist UK authorities in connection with the Manchester City case if he is given protection from threats, as uncertainty continues over the end of his current witness-protection arrangements in Portugal.
The Guardian reported that Pinto, whose leaked documents helped prompt the Premier League’s investigation into City’s financial affairs, regards continued co-operation as his priority, provided that adequate security can be arranged. The Guardian said the UK could be added to the countries Pinto has assisted should authorities choose to do so.
Pinto’s position has come into sharper focus after Manchester City confirmed that they would appeal against an independent commission’s verdict. The Guardian reported that the commission had found the club guilty of more than 100 charges and had identified contracts described in its findings as artificial boosts to income. City’s appeal remains separate from any potential assistance Pinto could offer authorities outside Portugal.
Protection status could shape Pinto’s next step
According to the Guardian, Pinto could be free to work with authorities in other countries from 10 October if it is confirmed that he will no longer be a protected witness in Portugal. The report said he had previously co-operated, on an intermittent basis, with authorities in France, Germany and Belgium.
That possibility does not amount to a confirmed UK role. The Guardian said the UK could join the countries with which Pinto has co-operated should it choose to do so, while stressing that any decision would rest with the relevant authorities. The report suggested that Pinto’s detailed knowledge of documents, people and companies connected with the case could be relevant, including material which may not have featured in the Premier League investigation.
The Guardian also reported that Pinto’s potential assistance could extend beyond the City case because the files he collected through Football Leaks and Luanda Leaks cover matters beyond one club. It said French authorities travelled to Budapest and copied the contents of Pinto’s electronic devices between his arrest there and his extradition to Portugal. According to the report, the material can be shared between countries through international co-operation arrangements involving nations with bilateral ties, including the UK.
For football, the immediate significance is limited but potentially important. The Premier League disciplinary process and City’s appeal concern the commission’s verdict, while Pinto’s reported offer relates to whether authorities might seek information independently. Any potential UK co-operation would be separate from City’s appeal against the commission’s verdict.
Lawyers challenge end of witness protection
The Guardian reported that Pinto’s lawyers had appealed against the decision to end his protection in Portugal. They had also sought to establish how the risk assessment had been carried out, according to the report, but had not received a response.
Pinto’s defence team reportedly criticised the ending of protection in severe terms, while Pinto himself wanted to leave Portugal for a secret location. The Guardian said that, shortly before his arrest in Budapest in January 2019, he had been negotiating possible entry into a French witness-protection programme, but that initiative was halted by Portuguese authorities.
The report also said Pinto was acquitted of 241 counts following a second trial in Portugal in April. That outcome and his reported security concerns form the backdrop to his willingness to continue assisting elsewhere, rather than proof that any overseas authority will take up the offer.
A crowdfunding campaign launched to support a new life after the end of Portuguese protection had raised more than €19,000, or £16,530, at the time the Guardian report was published. The fundraising effort underlines the practical uncertainty surrounding Pinto’s future, but it does not itself establish where he will live or whether another country will provide protection.
City’s appeal means the football case remains unresolved. Pinto’s reported readiness to co-operate with the UK adds a separate development around the source material that helped begin the investigation. The Guardian said the UK could be added to the countries Pinto has assisted should authorities choose to do so.