10月2日：据鲁伊·皮尼托的法律团队周五透露，在独立委员会认定曼彻斯特城严重违反英超联赛财务规则数日后，这位“足球泄密”事件的举报人即将失去在葡萄牙的证人保护资格。
Oct 2 : Football Leaks whistleblower Rui Pinto is set to lose his witness protection status in Portugal, his legal team said on Friday, days after an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.
皮尼托的爆料促使外界对曼彻斯特城的财务状况展开审查。2020年，他在同意配合当局工作并提供通过“足球泄密”行动获取的文件后，进入了葡萄牙的证人保护计划。
Pinto, whose disclosures helped trigger scrutiny of Manchester City's finances, entered Portugal's witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to cooperate with authorities and provide files obtained through the Football Leaks operation.
独立委员会认定，在2009-10赛季至2017-18赛季的九个赛季中，曼彻斯特城违反了英超联赛的所有财务规定；此外，该俱乐部在四项配合调查的相关指控中也有三项被判定违规。
City were found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial regulations over nine seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18, as well as three of four charges concerning failures to cooperate with the investigation.
英超联赛本周表示，近十年来曼彻斯特城利用虚假的商业合同虚增收入、压低成本，涉及的金额超过9亿英镑（约合11.9亿美元）。这一行为导致财务报告失真，也违反了支出规则。该俱乐部坚决否认存在违规行为，并已对裁决提出上诉。
The league said this week that City had used "sham" commercial contracts to inflate revenue and understate costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.19 billion) over nearly a decade, resulting in inaccurate financial reporting and breaches of spending rules. The club have denied wrongdoing and appealed the verdict.
皮尼托的法律团队在其X账号发布的声明中称：“按照法律规定，在未经事先听证的情况下，再过几天他就会失去为其提供的受保护且保密的住所，不得不紧急寻找新住处，而且无法保证警方的保护措施还能继续。”
"In a few days, without being heard beforehand, as required by law, he would lose the protected, confidential residence assigned to him and be forced to find new housing urgently, with no guarantee that police protection will continue," Pinto's legal team said in a statement posted on his X account.
“他目前的处境十分危急。针对他的威胁绝非空穴来风——去年4月他就在里斯本遭到了袭击。”
"His situation is now critical. The threats against him are not merely theoretical; he was assaulted in Lisbon last April."
“足球泄密”项目创立于2015年，曾公开了数百万份足球行业的机密文件，包括各俱乐部、球员及经纪人之间的转会协议、合同及其他交易记录。
FOOTBALL LEAKS Launched in 2015, Football Leaks published millions of confidential documents from the football industry, including transfer agreements, contracts and other deals involving clubs, players and agents.
路透社查阅的“足球泄密”相关资料显示，一些足球界最富有且最具影响力的人物通过将收入转移至海外的方式逃税。
Football Leaks' data seen by Reuters showed how some of the richest and most prominent figures in soccer avoided tax by channelling earnings offshore.
鲁伊·平托于2019年在匈牙利被捕，随后被引渡至葡萄牙。此后他配合当局调查，并获得了证人保护。
Pinto was arrested in Hungary in 2019 before being extradited to Portugal, where he later cooperated with authorities and was placed under witness protection.
他的律师称，该保护计划将于10月10日终止，并认为这一决定会大幅增加他的安全风险。他们指出，由泄密事件引发的法律诉讼仍在进行中，包括最近发生的曼彻斯特城案。
His lawyers said the programme would end on October 10 and argued the decision leaves him at heightened risk, noting legal proceedings stemming from the leaks remained ongoing, including the recent Manchester City case.
声明指出：“如果鲁伊·平托突然失去受保护的住所并陷入极度不稳定的境地，他如今所面临的风险将比2020年以来任何时候都要高。”周五，葡萄牙司法部尚未对置评请求作出回应。
"If abruptly deprived of his protected housing and plunged into a state of extreme precariousness, Rui Pinto would be more vulnerable now than at any time since 2020," the statement said. Portugal's Justice Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.