Rui Pinto: The Hacker Who Tried to Take Down Manchester City

How Football Leaks changed football journalism

Rui Pinto set up Football Leaks in 2015 with the stated aim of exposing “the hidden side of football”. For years, Pinto’s identity was concealed, and he initially operated under the pseudonym “John”.

Antonio Varela, a Portuguese journalist at the sports newspaper Record, was the first person Pinto contacted. Varela recalled receiving an unexpected email when Football Leaks launched and immediately examining the website’s material.

“It was a common day of September 2015. I was at the news room at [Portuguese sports newspaper] Record and I got an email from Football Leaks. It was strange. Then I immediately go to the site, and I can’t believe there is lots of information that you never heard or read. We made the conclusion this is very, very important.”

Football Leaks initially focused on issues closer to Pinto’s home country, including information concerning Benfica and FC Porto, the club he supported. The disclosures later expanded to some of the biggest names in world football, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar, as well as leading clubs and agents.

The ethical questions around leaked football documents

Publishing the material created legal and ethical challenges for journalists. Varela said the information had been obtained illegally, but argued that its publication made it part of the public record and that the public interest justified reporting on it.

“We realised that [Football Leaks] got the information illegally. But since the moment they publish the information on the site, that’s public information,” said Varela. “You can’t ignore that. Ethically, it’s complicated, but the public interest is more relevant than the ethical issue. That was the conclusion.”

Manchester City, described in the source as eight-time Premier League champions, was among the clubs targeted by Pinto. The disclosures were subsequently examined and republished by journalists, including Rafael Buschmann of the German magazine Der Spiegel.

Inside Der Spiegel’s investigation

Pinto agreed to meet Buschmann and, after establishing trust, shared tens of millions of documents with him. A team based at Der Spiegel’s headquarters in Hamburg then worked through the material in detail, producing a series of highly significant reports about the football industry.

Christoph Winterbach, a data journalist on the Der Spiegel team, described the initial experience of reviewing the documents as overwhelming. He said the material provided an unusually detailed view of how football’s most powerful figures and organizations conducted negotiations.

“In the beginning it was very much a fascinating feeling of like a child in a candy store,” he said.

“If you’re a football fan, if you’re a sports journalist, it was amazing to see the actual documents, to see those emails where things are negotiated and to get a real look behind the curtain, how things work.”

Winterbach also emphasized the need to verify the material before publication. The journalists used cross-checking and software tools to assess the documents, establish their context and identify potential reliability problems.

“It’s very important when you have this type of documents, this type of data, that you make a lot of cross checks, that you use some software which we did that can put it all into context and you can see if there’s any reliability issues.”

“We always need to make sure that it’s authentic material and whenever we publish something about it, it needs to be in the public interest to start writing.”

Winterbach’s meetings with Rui Pinto

Winterbach met Pinto in person for the first time in 2019, while Pinto was being held in prison in Lisbon awaiting trial. The journalist later conducted another interview with Pinto while he was in witness protection. The meeting took place at a secret, high-security location, with Winterbach describing the arrangements for reaching it as being “like a Hollywood movie”.

Winterbach portrayed Pinto as a distinctive and highly focused figure, combining a youthful personality with strong idealism about the issues he had uncovered.

He said: “Rui Pinto is not very tall. He has very distinctive hair, like spiky hair. He usually has red cheeks and he’s a youthful, cheeky, funny character. He’s friendly and warm when you meet him.”

“He’s a very impressive character, he’s very focused, he’s very concentrated. He’s very, very intelligent. He’s very idealistic about the topics that he uncovered.”

“He’s one of the most important whistleblowers that we have in Europe or maybe the world.”

Why This Matters

Football Leaks demonstrated the scale of information that can emerge when confidential documents involving clubs, players, agents and football operations are obtained and shared with investigative journalists. The work also highlighted the difficult balance between handling illegally obtained material, verifying its authenticity and determining whether publication serves the public interest.

Pinto ultimately provided more than three terabytes of information to Der Spiegel and other media organizations in the European Investigative Collaborations consortium. The volume was equivalent to about 3,000 copies of the Encyclopedia Britannica, giving journalists an extensive documentary basis for examining the football industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who founded Football Leaks?

Rui Pinto established Football Leaks in 2015. He initially used the pseudonym “John” and concealed his real identity.

Which football figures and clubs were linked to Football Leaks disclosures?

The disclosures involved Benfica, FC Porto, Manchester City, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar and other prominent clubs, players and agents.

How much information did Rui Pinto share with journalists?

Pinto provided more than three terabytes of documents to Der Spiegel and other outlets involved in the European Investigative Collaborations consortium.