Guide
Football club leaks: real cases and what clubs can learn
Football club leaks come from many places: a staff email, a team news post, a group chat, a hacked account. In the 4 cases below, as reported, the leak usually came through a channel with too many people and no way to tell whose copy was whose.
Which football club leaks have been reported?
Below are 4 cases that were reported by news outlets. We describe only what the sources say. We do not name private individuals, and we do not guess who leaked or why. Each case has a link to the article we read.
Manchester United: a warning about leaks, 2025
As reported by The Telegraph in February 2025, Manchester United's chief executive sent staff a 580-word email about leaks to the press. It said that disclosing information outside the club was a breach of confidentiality and would be treated as gross misconduct. The reports said the email also announced extra measures to prevent leaks. They linked the warning to stories about job cuts at the club.
Source: Football Transfers, February 2025
Manchester United: a team news leak before a derby, 2024
As reported by Goal in December 2024, Manchester United's starting line-up for the match against Manchester City was posted on social media the day before the game. The report said the leaked line-up proved accurate. It said the club questioned at least 2 players. Both denied being the source, according to The Mail as relayed by Flashscore. The same reports said the club believed the source was more likely to be someone in a player's wider circle, and that players would be warned about sharing information.
The manager was quoted as saying it was "impossible to fix nowadays because you have a lot of people in the club."
Source: Goal, December 2024
Flamengo: a medical message in a group chat, 2025
As reported by Brazilian outlets in July 2025, the head of Flamengo's medical department wrote about a player's knee injury in a WhatsApp group. The group was reported to have 71 members, including club officials. The message later became public. The reports said the club dismissed the medical chief the day after the messages surfaced, and that the player's representatives criticised the disclosure.
Source: Bahia Notícias, July 2025 (in Portuguese)
Spanish football federation: stolen private messages, 2022
As reported in April 2022, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) said hackers had taken emails, text messages and audio conversations involving senior officials. The federation said the material had been offered to different media outlets. It said the material included confidential contracts and private WhatsApp conversations. It reported the matter to the police and hired a specialist cybersecurity firm.
Source: The Olive Press, April 2022
What do these football club leaks have in common?
The cases are different, but 4 patterns repeat.
- Group chats. A message sent to 71 people is not private. Anyone in the group can pass it on or screenshot it.
- Too many people. The Manchester United manager's own words point at this. Players, staff, agents, family and friends all hear things.
- Stolen accounts. In the federation case, the messages were reported as stolen, not shared by a colleague. A leak does not always start with an insider.
- No way to tell whose copy it was. A line-up, a message or a document is the same for everyone. Once it is out, the club can only ask questions.
The key point. When everyone receives the same thing, a leak points to everyone. When each person receives their own marked copy, a leak points to 1 copy.
Does a leak always come from inside the club?
No. The federation case was reported as theft by outsiders. The line-up case was described by the club as possibly coming from someone close to a player, not a member of staff. Many leaks are also plain mistakes: a message sent to the wrong group, a screenshot shared with a friend, a file forwarded without thinking.
This matters for how a club reacts. Treating every leak as a betrayal damages trust. A calm, fair process works better. It starts with facts: who had access, which copy leaked, and what the logs show.
What do clubs say and do after a leak?
From the sources above, the response was the same in most cases. Clubs warned staff, questioned people, dismissed a staff member, or went to the police. Manchester United warned its staff in writing and announced extra measures. The Spanish federation called in police and a security firm.
Most of this happens after the damage is done. Warnings and investigations take time, and they can strain trust inside a club. In the derby case, the reports say the 2 players questioned both denied being the source.
A mark on each copy does not remove the need for care. It also does not prove who leaked. It shows whose copy leaked. A person's account can be shared or hacked, so the strongest case is several clues that agree. Talk to your own lawyer before you act on any finding. Our guide on how to find out who leaked a video explains the limits.
How can a club prevent a team news leak or transfer leak?
No tool stops a determined person from filming a screen. What a club can do is make leaks less likely, and make them traceable.
- Limit who gets what. Send the transfer plan or tactical video only to the people who need it. A smaller circle is the cheapest protection.
- Avoid big group chats for sensitive material. Use a private channel with a known list of names.
- Give each person their own marked copy. It changes behaviour when people know a copy can be traced.
- Keep a trail. Know who opened the video, when, and on what device.
- Write down the plan. Decide in advance who does what in the first 24 hours. See what to do when a video leaks.
SealCopy does steps 3 and 4 for video. Each person gets a private link, signs in with a code, and watches a copy marked with their name and a hidden mark. Every view is logged. It sits beside the tools a club already uses. More on how SealCopy helps sport clubs and how it works.
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