• Pinto has witness protection status removed

• His lawyers will appeal and say his situation is ‘critical’

Rui Pinto has revealed he is preparing to leave Portugal because he fears for his safety after being informed that his participation in the country’s witness protection programme has been terminated.

The Football Leaks founder claimed he has received “multiple death threats” and is facing “the serious risk of an assassination attempt against me” after being informed of the decision by Portuguese authorities on Wednesday. That came two days after Manchester City were found guilty of 115 charges by an independent commission – an investigation that was prompted by Pinto’s leaks of thousands of private documents.

He said in a statement on Friday that the timing and circumstances of the decision to end his witness protection had left him facing a serious threat to his safety. “On 30 September 2026, just hours after the verdict officially confirming Manchester City’s guilt, the commission responsible for Portugal’s witness protection programme informed me of its decision to terminate my participation in the programme and withdraw my police protection, thereby knowingly placing me in a life-threatening situation,” he wrote on X.

“Given these circumstances, I have no alternative but to relocate, within the next few days, to an undisclosed location for an indefinite period of time, due to the multiple death threats I have received and the serious risk of an assassination...

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