Portuguese whistleblower Rui Pinto, the man behind the “Football Leaks”, allowed French and European investigators to access his hard drives for the first time on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Pinto’s leaks, which began being published directly on the internet in late 2015, have significantly jolted the football world. They have brought to light various issues, such as the salaries of Lionel Messi and Neymar, an eventually-dismissed rape accusation against Cristiano Ronaldo, alleged circumventions of financial fair-play by Manchester City, and reported ethnic profiling at Paris Saint-Germain.
The interviews took place on Tuesday and Wednesday with financial investigators from the Central Office for the Fight Against Corruption and Financial and Fiscal Crimes (OCLCIFF), near Paris, in the presence of a magistrate from the French National Financial Prosecutor (PNF). German and Belgian investigators were also present.
The PNF had initiated a preliminary investigation into the so-called “Football Leaks” at the end of 2016 for organised money laundering, aggravated tax fraud, and organised VAT fraud.
During a meeting on Thursday with AFP, L’Equipe, and Mediapart at the Paris office of his lawyer, William Bourdon, the 35-year-old whistleblower explained why he was there. He said he was granting French and foreign authorities unrestricted access to his data, collected until his arrest in Hungary in January 2019, for the first time.
This represents far greater access than that previously granted to the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), the consortium of European investigative media which so far published enquiries on the subject.
According to Pinto, his hard drives contain information about many of France and Europe’s most prestigious football clubs, sports agents, football institutions, companies, and more.
Pinto, who is also behind the “Luanda Leaks” – an investigation published in 2020 into the daughter of former President dos Santos in Angola – stressed that the leaks might extend beyond the world of football. “What I have just submitted is larger in volume than the first data shared, it’s not just about the ‘Football Leaks’ or the ‘Luanda Leaks’,” clarified the Portuguese national.
In a statement, the PNF lauded Pinto’s “essential cooperation”.
In Portugal, Pinto is appealing a September conviction for computer hacking and attempted extortion against a sports investment fund, for which he was given a suspended sentence of four years. The prosecution has already brought new charges against him and is reportedly preparing a third.
