Meet Rui Pinto, the hacker whose leaks shook world football

Rui Pinto is a Portuguese computer hacker who gained international recognition as the founder of Football Leaks, a website that published confidential documents from clubs, players and agents. Growing up in Vila Nova de Gaia, near Porto, Pinto was known for his exceptional computer skills. His former geography teacher, Mario Falcao, described him as a "perfectly normal pupil" who was sociable but not particularly extroverted.

Despite his lack of a formal education, Pinto built a successful career as a hacker, living a relatively ordinary life before his identity was revealed in 2019.

Football Leaks, launched in 2015, aimed to expose the "hidden side of football" by publishing confidential documents. The material obtained by Pinto raised questions about the legality of publishing illegally obtained information, but journalists concluded that the public interest outweighed ethical concerns. Pinto eventually shared over three terabytes of information with Der Spiegel and other outlets in the European Investigative Collaborations consortium, providing journalists with a wealth of documents that shed light on the inner workings of football clubs and agents.