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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

"His situation is now critical. The threats against him are not merely theoretical; he was assaulted in Lisbon last April."

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.

Football Leaks' data seen by Reuters showed how some of the richest and most prominent figures in soccer avoided tax by channelling earnings offshore.

Pinto was arrested in Hungary in 2019 before being extradited to Portugal, where he later cooperated with authorities and was placed under witness protection.

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.

"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. REUTERS