Football Leaks: Whistleblower arrested in Budapest

The 30-year-old Portuguese is accused, among other things, of "unauthorized appropriation and distribution of data as well as attempted blackmail." The Portuguese authorities are now seeking extradition. “In accordance with the arrest warrant, items belonging to the accused and related to criminal activities were also confiscated,” police in Budapest said.

The defendant's lawyer, Frenchman William Bourdon, confirmed his client's arrest in a press release and described him as a "man who loves football and, out of disgust at the practices, decided to reveal the extent of the criminal activity to the world." The lawyers, in addition to Bourdon, a Portuguese and a Hungarian, now want to prevent the desired extradition to Portugal.

According to Bourdon, who has represented Edward Snowden in the past, the detainee is said to be Rui Pedro Goncalves Pinto. According to Portuguese media reports, Pinto is said to be an IT expert from Porto's suburb of Vila Nova de Gaia and has been living in Budapest for several years.

According to Bourdon, Pinto has received numerous threats from the world of football in recent years. A number of people wanted to silence him “at any cost”. The FootballvLeaks platform has been causing a stir in world football with its revelations since 2015.

These also included reports of tax violations by top stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo during his time in Spain with Champions League winners Real Madrid. In November there were reports about how the European Football Union (UEFA) had helped top teams Paris St. Germain and Manchester City circumvent Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules with fake sponsorship income.

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Football Leaks: Whistleblower arrested in Budapest

A suspected whistleblower from the “Football Leaks” disclosure platform was arrested in Budapest on Wednesday evening. This was announced by the Portuguese police, who had issued a European arrest warrant against the accused.

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