PORTUGAL’S Ministry of Justice has confirmed that it has REVERSED its decision to move Man City whistleblower Rui Pinto out of witness protection.
Pinto, 37, rocked the football world by founding Football Leaks in 2018.
After showing confidential documents from major football clubs to German magazine Der Spiegel, he gained international attention and was extradited from Hungary in 2019.
He was then introduced to Portugal’s witness protection programme in 2020 and agreed to co-operate with authorities by providing information he had come across through computer hacking.
As part of that, he has provided essential, confidential documents – including emails and financial records – relating to Manchester City.
Just days after the Premier League released the independent commission’s guilty verdict for City, Pinto publicly explained that he was planning to leave Portugal after being told his participation in the country’s witness protection programme had been terminated.
This is despite the fact he received “multiple death threats” and faced “the serious risk of an assassination attempt” against him.
On X, he wrote: “I have no alternative but to relocate, within the next few days, to an undisclosed location for an indefinite period of time.”
However, given that the case is going through an appeal and it is not closed, the Ministry has changed its mind.
A statement from the Ministry read: “The protection program remains in effect until a new decision is adopted by the Special Security Programs Commission.
“The Minister of Justice met yesterday, October 8th, with the Special Security Programs Commission (CPES), within the scope of monitoring the situation regarding the special security program of Rui Pedro Gonçalves Pinto.
“The CPES verified that the beneficiary was not duly notified of the grounds for the decision to close the program, nor was he assured of the information and the possibility of exercising the right to a hearing, as provided for in the Witness Protection Law (Law No. 93/99, of July 14).
“For this reason, the Commission declared the decision of September 22, 2026, null and void, as well as the subsequent procedure and the notification made on September 30, 2026.
“Consequently, the special security program remains in effect until a new decision is made by the Special Security Programs Commission.
“The Commission also decided to proceed with a new notification to the beneficiary, providing them with the risk reassessment report and the relevant elements of the minutes of its meetings, granting them a period of ten working days to comment on the meaning and grounds of the projected decision.
“Only after this procedure has been completed and the beneficiary’s statement, if submitted, has been assessed will the CPES make a new decision on maintaining or terminating the special security program.”
