Rui Pinto, the Portuguese whistleblower behind the Football Leaks revelations of widespread criminality in the world of professional football, ranging from fraud and tax evasion to match-fixing and political corruption, has been held for more than six months in preventive detention in conditions of solitary confinement in a Lisbon jail. Accused of illegal hacking of documents and attempted extorsion, the 30-year-old faces trial for 147 alleged offences relating to his disclosures of illegal practices in the football business in Portugal. But in a defiant statement, Pinto has slammed the Portuguese prosecution services for ignoring the evidence of corruption he gave them, of protecting those behind it, and of transforming him into “a sort of political prisoner”.
Rui Pinto, the whistleblower behind the Football Leaks revelations which have shaken the world of professional football, notably providing evidence of corruption and tax evasion on a grand scale, has slammed the prosecution services in his native Portugal, where he has now spent more than six months in preventive detention and stands accused of a total of 147 offences, for ignoring evidence of corruption he previously submitted to them and for making him “a sort of political prisoner”.
