‘Football Leaks’ hacker Rui Pinto threatens to release Man City emails which prove the FFP rule breach and claims show ‘criminal relevancy’.
He plots to published a number of documents and is confident they will prove that the club deliberately cheated Financial Fair Play Rules.
Pinto gained access to thousands of emails and even leaked them to the media in 2018, and it now alleging to have already provided ‘millions’ of documents to authorities in Germany and France.
Football Leaks hacker threatens to release bombshell Man City emails and documents he claims will PROVE they breached FFP rules – as he insists he is ‘CONFIDENT’ authorities will ‘find criminal relevancy’ https://t.co/udsWtJXktq
— Mail Sport (@MailSport) June 23, 2024
The 35 year old has been under the protection of a witness program since 2020. Even though he was convicted of attempted extortion and unauthorised access to data, he was given a four-year suspended sentence from a Portuguese court last year, and avoided going to prison.
It is believed he still has also of these documents in relation to Manchester City’s financial operations, having previously disclosed sensitive information about their sponsorship earnings and also details of a Roberto Mancini’s contract when he was in charge of the club.
Man City have always strongly denied any allegations of misconduct, but they are set to take part in a hearing over the 115 charges of financial irregularities in the Premier League later in the autumn.
The club face being accused of concealing payments through intermediaries by presenting them as sponsorship income, said to be a clear violation of Financial Fair Play regulations.
From his safehouse, Pinto told the OffShore-Alert Marbella Conference via video link, per The Sun: ‘The Man City releases showed amounts of money being paid into by the club that were not mentioned to the football authorities.
‘These documents are from part of the Premier League investigation into City. I have now handed five hard drives to French and German authorities with millions of documents, including more on City and I have described what is on each.
‘I am confident they will find criminal relevancy.’
A legal representative for Pinto added: ‘We have been approached by investigators to share information regarding Manchester City that has not been released before.
‘We haven’t released the information yet but we have a massive file of Manchester City-related documents that has yet to be released.
‘The files will be published at some point, we cannot say when but we will do it.’
His previous leaks led to UEFA handing Man City a two-year ban from European competitions back in 2020 after breaking financial restrictions as well as a fine of around £25million.
Man City overturned their suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport after being cleared of ‘disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions’.
They were also accused of breaching FFP between 2012 and 2016.
But Man City say they have been left ‘surprised’ by the pending FFP investigation: ‘The club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent Commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.
‘As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.’
The 115 charges that Man City face
54x Failure to provide accurate financial information 2009-10 to 2017-18
14x Failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009-10 to 2017-18
5x Failure to comply with UEFA’s rules including Financial Fair Play (FFP) 2013-14 to 2017-18
7x Breaching Premier League’s PSR rules 2015-16 to 2017-18
35x Failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations December 2018 – Feb 2023
This is what fans are saying as a ‘Football Leaks’ hacker threatens to release Man City emails which prove an FFP rule breach…
@Lindzell_LFC: In the words of Nike…….Just Do It
@themagic_tophat: The documents released so far already do this 🤷♂️
@MPJMCFC: And he’s sat on them all these years?! 🤣. Let CAS process pass by and thought “nah, can’t be arsed sharing”. Woeful they even published this
@Rory_Talks_Ball: This hacker has been in a witness protection safe house for like 4 years and he’s still going for them. Whatever hurt City caused him, he’s not forgetting it
@MCFC_Matt_1989: Why didn’t he release them years ago? Seems a bit daft to release the ones that just look a bit dodgy when you have ones that PROVE corruption.
@LFCCweg: My new angle on this. UEFA are waiting for PL to wrap up their case, when that’s all done and dusted with City not playing in Europe the season after, they can take their time with the case and hit them with the European stick. They rushed CAS so it would finish in time. Not again
@Meezy_Boi: Is he waiting for payment? Leak it man
@jordxovrtn: Not all heroes where capes
@footiestatto: Just do it Rui lad, they’ve had you in witness protection for 4 years. If they’d done nothing wrong and he didn’t have anymore on them he’d of been walking the streets not being protected for his own safety.
@claywright2021: We’ve all known but the people in charge were just hoping no one would make too big of a fuss and it could be swept under the rug, like UEFA did with there charges against city
@NotoriousBigG87: He must be a Liverpool fan 😂😂😂
@Chris_Clem_nsl: Laughable, he’s got nothing
@jamiesense_: Just leak them now why are they waiting? Are they looking for a pay off from the cheats too? Ruining football all this shit.
@MUFCWill3: Probably going to dump more evidence in and around start the hearing via the highest media bidder. However, this does not absolve City for being the biggest cheats in football history.
@Rob_G1979: Can evidence which has been obtained illegally be used?
@BrooksDai: Not in a court of Law (I’ve watched The Bill 😉)
@Roryg_nufc: Wouldn’t have thought so, if obtained illegally who is to say it has not been altered?
@Lea_EFC: If I was him I wouldn’t be going to Abu Dhabi anytime soon.
https://t.co/v8XZzHzhrX pic.twitter.com/MgnLuteHY5
— Chris Davies (@RubbishNo3) June 23, 2024
You must be logged in to post a comment Login