A Lisbon court has postponed a verdict in the trial of Rui Pinto, the hacker behind the so-called “Football Leaks,” due to an upcoming visit to Portugal by Pope Francis and a new law set to pardon some young offenders.
The 34-year-old faces 90 charges, including unauthorized access to data, and was due to be sentenced on July 13.
Pinto rose to global prominence after launching the Football Leaks website in 2015, where he published confidential documents revealing the dark underbelly of the global soccer industry, including tax evasion, match-fixing and hefty agents’ fees. He also provided a trove of documents to journalists, leading to a cross-border investigation that prompted authorities in several countries to prosecute top soccer players for tax dodging.
A rape allegation against Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the world’s most famous sports stars, was also revealed in the leaks. Ronaldo denied wrongdoing and a Nevada judge dismissed a case brought by the alleged victim against him.
In January 2020, Pinto was named as the source of ICIJ’s Luanda Leaks investigation, which exposed corruption and financial crime in the oil-rich African nation of Angola, as well as several other countries with connections to businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, the central figure of the scandal. Dos Santos is the daughter of former Angolan dictator José Eduardo dos Santos, and was previously labeled Africa’s richest woman by the media.
Pinto was arrested in Hungary in 2019, then held for more than...
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