‘Football Leaks’ hacker drops Man City bombshell as Arsenal wait on 115 charges

Football Leaks hacker Rui Pinto claims to have provided evidence of ‘criminal relevancy’ to Manchester City, after helping the Premier League’s investigation over 115 charges.

Pinto is responsible for hacking emails related to City staff that were subsequently published in German newspaper Der Spiegel. This led to investigations by UEFA and the Premier League into the club’s financial dealings.

A two-year Champions League ban imposed by UEFA was later overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Meanwhile, the Blues are set to learn the outcome of the hearing into the 115 Premier League charges, which they strongly deny, next year.

Speaking from a safe-house as part of the witness protection programme since 2020, Pinto told the OffShore-Alert Marbella Conference that the documents he obtained formed part of the Premier League investigation. He also hinted at more unreleased files that would demonstrate ‘criminal relevancy’.

He said: “The Man City releases showed amounts of money being paid into by the club that were not mentioned to the football authorities. These documents form part of the Premier League investigation into City.

“I have now handed over five hard drives to French and German authorities containing millions of documents, including more on City and I have described what is on each. I am confident they will find criminal relevancy.”

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In 2020, City disputed all allegations brought forward by UEFA and felt vindicated when the only punishment received was for not cooperating with an investigation whose leaks were dubbed as “worrisome” by a previous arbitration panel. The club maintains that they have concrete proof to support their stance in relation to the Premier League charges they are facing.

Further to this, Pinto implied he had been contacted for more documents regarding the Premier League side which he is prepared to hand over. His legal spokesperson stated: “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.”

City could not immediately be reached for comment.