The computer hacker who tried to take down Man City

Mention Rui Pinto's name to Manchester City fans outside Etihad Stadium, and you mostly get blank faces.

But while they might not know his name, they are more than familiar with his work.

Pinto is the Portuguese computer hacker who tried to bring down City.

Through his website Football Leaks, he published a cache of confidential club documents, including internal emails about sponsorship deals and payments.

That ultimately led to the Premier League charges for breaching of financial rules and Friday's news that the club had been found guilty of the majority of the 115 counts.

For some, 37-year-old Pinto is no more than a criminal who stole information with sinister intentions.

To others, though, he is a bastion of truth who has shone a light on the darker side of the beautiful game.

BBC Sport has been on a journey across Europe to find out more about the mysterious figure who was the catalyst for so much controversy.

We spoke to one of Pinto's former teachers, a Portuguese politician fighting for him to be protected as a whistleblower, journalists who published the leaks, and a former financial adviser at Manchester City.

And we sat just a few feet from Pinto in the latest of his court cases.

'Maybe he felt the need for justice'

With his cherubic face and spiky hair, Pinto is instantly recognisable. And it seems he hasn't changed.

It is how Mario Falcao, his former geography teacher, remembers him.

In a small courtyard garden in Portugal, we got a glimpse of what Pinto was like as a boy.

"Rui was a perfectly normal pupil. He was nice, with his spiky hair, he was quite sociable but not extrovert," Falcao said.

"He had a good relationship with the teachers, although he did miss these classes quite often. His father was always on top of things, so in the end he passed quite easily."

Did he spot a strong interest in computers in a young Pinto?

"Certainly he was very good in computers. All the work that he did for various courses were very good, when he put his mind to it," his former teacher explained.

The now-retired Falcao speaks fondly of Pinto, who he says behaved just like his friends and would "go to the gym, go to McDonald's".

Pinto had a modest upbringing. He grew up in an area called Vila Nova de Gaia, just across the Douro River from Porto, Portugal's second-largest city. We visited the road where he used to live, which featured tile-fronted houses with terracotta roofs.

His school, Escola Secundaria Almeida Garrett, was well-regarded and was known by locals as 'the university'.

His father, Francisco, worked in a shoe factory and later as an antiques dealer. His mother had died when he was 11.

Falcao said he never predicted what was to come of his former pupil.

"We were very surprised," he said of the moment Pinto was named as the founder of Football Leaks in 2019.

"We weren't imagining anything like this could happen, that he could have problems with justice.

"I certainly wouldn't wish him and his family to be in this situation. Perhaps it was a question of the excesses of youth, his ability with computers, and maybe an excess of club-ism."

"So, you know, the fact that he supported FC Porto prompted him to commit some acts, but maybe he also felt the need for justice that young people very often do feel."

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'One of most important whistleblowers in Europe'

Pinto set up Football Leaks in 2015, to - in his words - expose "the hidden side of football".

Antonio Varela remembers the website's launch like it was yesterday. The Portuguese journalist was the first person contacted by Pinto, whose real identity would not be known for years to come, and was initially known by the pseudonym "John".

"It was a common day of September 2015. I was at the news room at [Portuguese sports newspaper] Record and I got an email from Football Leaks. It was strange. Then I immediately go to the site, and I can't believe there is lots of information that you never heard or read. We made the conclusion this is very, very important."

Re-publishing what had been leaked by Pinto brought legal and ethical conundrums.

"We realised that [Football Leaks] got the information illegally. But since the moment they publish the information on the site, that's public information," said Varela.

"You can't ignore that. Ethically, it's complicated, but the public interest is more relevant than the ethical issue. That was the conclusion."