Manchester City financial breach whistleblower Rui Pinto pleads with the Portuguese government not to revoke his political asylum status..

The Athletic reported exclusively on Monday that Football Leaks founder and whistleblower Rui Pinto, who exposed Manchester City’s multiple financial breaches in 2018, is pleading with the Portuguese government not to revoke his political asylum status.

According to the report, after local media outlets recently indicated that the Portuguese government might consider revoking his asylum status on October 10, deeming his risk of harm to be low, Pinto, through his lawyers, argues that his personal safety has become "critical" following the confirmation of the facts regarding Manchester City's violations; he therefore urges his home country's government not to strip him of his asylum status.

Pinto’s legal representative said: "Within a matter of days, and without the legally required opportunity to present his case,my client, Mr. Rui Pinto, is set to lose his allocated, secure, and confidential accommodation. He is being forced to urgently seek new housing, with no guarantee of continued police protection."

"His current situation is perilous. The threats against him are far from baseless; he was physically attacked in Lisbon last April."

"His disclosures implicated powerful figures with vast resources, and many resulting legal proceedings are still ongoing—as evidenced by the ruling against Manchester City delivered by the Premier League’s independent panel just days ago. A sudden loss of secure housing and a descent into extreme instability would leave him more vulnerable than at any time since 2020."

Pinto’s lawyers emphasized that he has consistently cooperated with the related authorities and that his whistleblowing has "helped enhance transparency and integrity within the football world."

The lawyer added: "Nations that have benefited from his actions cannot simply turn their backs on a man who took necessary risks to expose the truth."

"This decision, and the manner in which it was reached, represents a regrettable departure from the rule of law and amounts to an act of state terror. We cannot accept it."

In 2017, Pinto used phishing emails to obtain and release confidential Manchester City documents, including internal correspondence. He has stated that he has been under witness protection since August 2020.

He subsequently leaked over 70 million documents, involving various clubs and prominent figures, to multiple European media outlets, including the German publication Der Spiegel.

It was Der Spiegel that, in November 2018, first broke the story regarding allegations that Manchester City had breached financial regulations.

Pinto also exposed internal scandals at the Portuguese Primeira Liga powerhouse Benfica, however, in September 2023, he was handed a four-year suspended prison sentence for cybercrimes and attempted extortion. Notably, he was acquitted of other charges in April 2026.

It is worth mentioning that when The Athletic’s resident renowned English transfer journalist David Ornstein exclusively revealed last week that Manchester City had been found guilty of nearly all 115 charges related to Premier League financial breaches, Pinto took to his personal social media to write: "This is a landmark decision in the history of English football and the ultimate vindication of the work I did through Football Leaks."

Image source: Internet / The Athletic