Der Spiegel (Rafael Buschmann and Christoph Winterbach) on Football leaks and Rui Pinto:

'DER SPIEGEL: Looking at your situation right now, do you think it was all worth it?

Pinto: There have been some results. You had the tax cases against football superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo, José Mourinho, Radamel Falcao and Ángel Di María. There are investigations in Belgium and France. Ultimately, you'll have to be patient to judge if it was all worth it.

The Football Leaks data revealed a system of tax evasion that top football players used to shift parts of their image rights to tax havens. As a consequence of the revelations, Ronaldo had to accept a two-year suspended sentence and pay around 19 million euros.

(Football Leaks also revealed just how widespread dirty money is in the business and the ways oligarchs and sheikhs alike exploit football for their own gain. European football association UEFA is currently investigating Manchester City, a top English club that has obtained cash infusions to the tune of millions from Abu Dhabi. The club appears to have broken the association's internal financial rules by signing bogus sponsorship contracts. Punative measures could even include the club's exclusion from the Champions League.

The Football Leaks data also revealed how FIFA President Gianni Infantino gave gifts to a senior Swiss prosecutor, through whom he gained access to a federal prosecutor who was investigating the global football body.)

DER SPIEGEL: Do you think your revelations have managed to improve anything in the world of football?

Pinto: Last year, DER SPIEGEL and the EIC revealed how major clubs in Europe were planning on joining forces in an exclusive Super League. After publication, they all denied the news. But take a look at the recent news: Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid, has established a new international club association that will compete with UEFA and the ECA. They want to make the Super League happen. It has been the same old shit for years. It just keeps on going. As long as their team is winning, nothing else matters to people, even if they know about wrongdoings, crimes and systemic flaws. I can't fight against that. Football is untouchable. And the authorities protect the sector just because it is of high public interest.

DER SPIEGEL: Why do you think that is?

Pinto: If you take Benfica, the most popular club in Portugal, you see that they're like an octopus of influence among the nation's elite. The club is well connected with the police, the prosecutors and politicians and regularly give them free VIP tickets for Benfica games. It would be a huge conflict of interest if they ever had to seriously investigate Benfica.

DER SPIEGEL: Your trial is expected to start at the beginning of next year. Why do you have to remain in detention until then?

Pinto: It doesn't make sense. It's unreasonable and unfair. I asked the judge for permission to go home until the trial starts, but the prosecutor insisted that there is a risk that I might interfere with the investigation - that I might engage in illicit activities together with foreign powers. It's ridiculous.'

Read the interview here.

Football is too popular a pastime, too much a money machine, to provoke real outrage about corruption and abuse of power.
If something is really entertaining corruption is just part of the game.