A Game of Secrets

"A Game of Secrets" documents an extraordinary attempt to expose the glaring hypocrisy and greed inside football business. An anonymous website called Football Leaks appears out of nowhere in 2015, announcing its mission in a brief manifesto - "This project aims to show the hidden side of football" - and over the next three years, the extremely profitable and highly questionable methods of football's superstars and middlemen uncovered by Football Leaks make global headlines. To name just a few, Cristiano Ronaldo is convicted for tax fraud and Manchester City banned from the Champions League. Nélio Lucas, a top Portuguese agent in business with Kazakh oligarchs - and one of Football Leaks' main targets - receives an offer from a Russian hacker: Make a generous donation and the leaks of confidential documents and leaks will stop. After a high stakes meeting, police raid a scrappy Budapest apartment. Out walks a teenage-looking Portuguese named Rui Pinto in handcuffs, worn-out sneakers and a backpack full of hard drives.

The world watches as the trial against Rui Pinto kicks off in Lisbon, where his claim of being football's Robin Hood is challenged by the blackmail attempt and a digital bank robbery in the Cayman Islands years earlier, adding another dimension to the story.

"Documentary offers a fresh view of the hacker whose claims sent shockwaves through the game"
- The Guardian

Selected as Realscreen's 2022 MIPCOM Picks