Man who exposed Manchester city for financial irregularities is facing trial and is in prison in his own country, whilst UEFA bans English giants.
Manchester City got banned from participating in the Champions League after found guilty of breaching FFP regularities and overstating their sponsorship deals as UEFA declared the verdict last night.
But the man who initially surfaced Manchester City’s alleged financial irregularities was Rui Pinto, he gained fame after the website exposed Manchester City’s financial dealings, and he is in jail awaiting trial.
According to the Daily Mail, Pinto faces 90 different counts of hacking, sabotage and fraud in his home country, has been in prison since March 2019, and was denied an appeal on Thursday.
The news of Manchester city ban on Friday led to the hashtag ‘Free Pinto’ trending on Twitter. Pinto got access to over 70 million documents that proved all sorts of misdemeanours by a range of clubs and recently told Der Spiegel he was aware that he could end up in prison.
“I was aware that anything could happen. I knew that Portuguese authorities prosecute whistleblowers, so I had to be ready for that,” he told the German outlet.
“The Portuguese authorities are afraid of what I know and that’s why it is important that I not lose my mind. In the beginning, I wrote notes related to the case in my notebook, but then it was taken from me.
“My lawyer was present when they searched my cell and said it was illegal to take my notes from me. It wasn’t the prison guards who did it, but the Portuguese prosecutors. They do anything they want. It was a month before they returned the notebook to me.”
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On the other hand, Manchester City has responded with a big appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in an attempt to rescue themselves from the ban.
