Football Leaks: lawyer reveals Rui Pinto is whistleblower “John”
By Rafael Buschmann, Christoph Winterbach et Michael Wulzinger (Der Spiegel)
William Bourdon, the lawyer representing Rui Pinto, who was arrested last week in Hungary at the demand of the Portuguese authorities, has confirmed that his client is “John”, the alias given to the key source behind the Football Leaks revelations that have rocked the world of professional football. The more than 70 million Football Leaks documents were the starting point for two series of investigations published by Mediapart and its partners in the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) media consortium, and which have revealed widespread corruption and fraud in the shadows of the “beautiful game”. In this in-depth interview with the EIC, Bourdon offers further detail about Pinto’s actions, and dismisses his presentation by the Portuguese media “simply as a hacker, whereas he is a significant whistleblower”.
Rui Pinto, the Portuguese whistleblower arrested in Hungary last week on an international arrest warrant issued by the Portuguese authorities, is the Football Leaks source who until now has been identified only as “John”, his lawyer William Bourdon has confirmed in an interview with Der Spiegel for the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) media consortium.
