Pedro Pinto

Pedro Pinto in 2017

Pedro Mendonça Pinto (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpedɾu mẽˈdõsɐ ˈpĩtu]) (born 28 January 1975 in Lisbon, Portugal) is a Portuguese American journalist.[1] Formerly a sports anchor for CNN International based in Atlanta and London, he is now Chief of Press at UEFA in Switzerland.

Early life

While growing up in Portugal, Pinto attended St. Julian's School in Carcavelos and later graduated from American International School of Lisbon in Carnaxide. He eventually moved to the United States and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a bachelor's in communications and marketing. He also earned a degree from the Carolina School of Broadcasting. While at UNCC, he worked for three years as a sportswriter and won the "Sportswriter of the Year" award in 1999. He also had internships with the NBA and MSNBC in Charlotte.

Broadcasting career

Pinto started his career with RTP in 1996, hosting a series of cartoon programmes including Hugo. It was at RTP where he earned the opportunity to host the news show Caderno Diário, where he specialized in sports. Pinto got his big break in 1998 when he was hired by CNN to become a sports anchor and correspondent. He stayed in Atlanta, Georgia, until 2003 and had the opportunity to cover many elite sports events like the 2002 FIFA World Cup and multiple UEFA Champions League finals.

In 2003, Pinto decided to return home and went on to anchor the program Últimas Notícias on Sport TV. Pinto stayed until November 2006 when he received an invitation to return to CNN, this time as a sports anchor in London. During the next seven years, Pinto covered all of Europe's major sporting events and interviewed the world's top athletes. Over his career Pinto has interviewed many huge international sports personalities such as Ronaldo, Kaká, Robinho, José Mourinho, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Alex Ferguson, Pelé and Novak Djokovic.[2] He continued to anchor the CNN World Sport show and later also hosted a new football programme called CNN FC. He occasionally appears on the popular Guardian football podcast Football Weekly.

UEFA and FIFA work

Pinto left CNN after 15 years to take the job of Chief of Press at UEFA, working directly with President Michel Platini. He has hosted the UEFA Champions League draws, where he has delivered the best player of the year awards for nine years running. He also hosted the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year awards ceremony in Zürich, Switzerland, alongside Charlotte Jackson and the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or with Carol Manana.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent". Archived from the original on 8 November 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  2. ↑ "CNN showed interview with Novak! - Novak Djokovic".
  3. ↑ Messi and Marta on top of the world (FIFA.com) 21 December 2009



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