A Portuguese computer hacker who leaked documents that helped spark a Premier League investigation into Manchester City will remain in witness protection after authorities in the country suspended their decision to suspend him.
Football Leaks founder Rui Pinto was due to leave the protection program on Saturday after an earlier decision put him in a “life-threatening situation”.
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Pinto, 37, released some of the classified football documents, including emails and financial records relating to the English Premier League side.
In 2018, he shared the documents with the German magazine Der Spiegel, which used them for investigations into City’s finances and breaches of financial fair play rules.
City recently pleaded guilty to all charges of breaching Premier League financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. They filed an appeal against the decision.
Pinto became part of Portugal’s witness protection program in 2020 after agreeing to cooperate with authorities and provide information obtained through Operation Football Leaks.
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However, Portugal’s Ministry of Justice said in a statement on Friday that the decision to remove Pinto from witness protection has been lifted for now because the agency responsible – the commission for special security programs – did not adequately “inform” Pinto of the grounds for its cancellation or give him an opportunity to challenge the decision.
Pinto will now be given 10 days to evaluate a risk assessment by the special security programs commission, which indicates a low threat to his security.
He thanked Portuguese Justice Minister Rita Alarcão Judice in X and said the commission’s initial decision clearly violated the law and was a “flagrant abuse of power.”
Pinto described himself as a whistleblower but was convicted in Portugal of crimes including illegal access to information and attempted extortion and received a four-year suspended sentence.
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He wore a bulletproof vest to his first trial in 2020, which was subject to heightened security.
Earlier this year, he was acquitted of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to a number of Portuguese sports organizations, including Benfica.