Man City whistleblower Rui Pinto could help UK uncover more sporting crime

Pinto’s lawyers have been contacted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) after he stated he would be willing to assist UK authorities with investigations in exchange for police protection, British newspaper The Guardian reported on Wednesday. Al Jazeera sought confirmation of Pinto’s reported contact with the authorities, but the SFO did not confirm whether the whistleblower was in talks.

“In line with long-established practice to avoid prejudice to law enforcement activity, we can neither confirm nor deny any investigation into this matter,” the SFO said in an emailed statement to Al Jazeera. Pinto appeared to confirm the reports of his discussions with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) by reposting an article on his social media account.

The 38-year-old is the founder of the website Football Leaks, which obtained private documents that showed City broke league rules from 2009 to 2018, leading to a probe by the Premier League’s independent commission. City were found guilty of all but one of 115 charges brought against them over breaches of Premier League financial rules.