The Portuguese Rui Pinto, at the origin of the revelations of the “Football Leaks” on the underside of football business, was condemned Monday by the justice of his country for eight computer crimes and attempted extortion against the investment fund Doyen Sports, receiving a 4-year suspended prison sentence.
“Essentially, the facts described (in the indictment, editor’s note) were considered proven,” declared presiding judge Margarida Alves at the start of the summary of the judgment that she read to the Lisbon court . From the publication of the salaries of Lionel Messi or Neymar to an accusation of rape against Cristiano Ronaldo, which has since been dismissed, including strategies to circumvent financial fair play at Manchester City or ethnic profiling at Paris Saint-Germain, the football world was deeply shaken by this gigantic leak of information.
While he was responsible for a total of 89 computer crimes, Rui Pinto was convicted of five counts of “illegitimate access” to computer systems and three counts of “aggravated correspondence violation,” she said. “The freedom to inform does not justify the violation of privacy,” asserted the presiding judge.
Appearing free, Rui Pinto was in the courtroom with a surgical mask on his face and with his usual look: crew cut hair, dark blue shirt, jeans and sneakers. Regarding the charge of attempted extortion, “the court had no doubts. (…) It was clearly established that he (Rui Pinto, editor’s note) wanted to receive money, ”said judge Margarida Alves. According to the prosecution, the Portuguese wanted to blackmail Doyen’s boss, his compatriot Nélio Lucas, by demanding between 500,000 and one million euros to stop publishing compromising documents.
Both accused and protected witness of his country’s justice system, the 34-year-old young man claims the role of whistleblower, but admitted before his judges having committed illegal computer intrusions to obtain millions of documents that he started publishing directly on the internet at the end of 2015.
Transmitted to a consortium of European investigative media, this windfall of information brought to light questionable practices involving star players, clubs and agents, which were then the subject of tax adjustments and legal inquiries in several countries.
