West Ham's Lucas Paqueta Cleared Of All Charges Of Betting Rules Breaches Levied By FA
West Ham's Paqueta, who joined from Lyon in 2022, was accused of influencing betting markets but maintained his innocence.
West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta has been cleared of alleged breaches of Football Association betting rules by an independent regulatory commission, the Premier League club announced on Thursday.
The Brazilian said in a statement issued by the Premier League club that he had always maintained his 'innocence against these extremely serious accusations".
Paqueta, who joined West Ham from French club Lyon in August 2022, was charged by the FA after it was alleged that the Brazilian deliberately received cards during Premier League matches to influence betting markets.
The case centered around four matches from November 2022 to August 2023. Paqueta received a yellow card in each of them.
'It's alleged," the FA said, 'that he directly sought to influence the progress, conduct, or any other aspect of, or occurrence in these matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting."
The 26-year-old Paqueta was also charged with 'alleged failures to comply," the FA said.
The Premier League matches in question were against Leicester on Nov. 12, 2022; Aston Villa on March 12, 2023; Leeds on May 21, 2023; and Bournemouth on Aug. 12, 2023.
Paqueta received a yellow card in each of those games, each time in the second half. Against Bournemouth, he was booked for a deliberate handball in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
The charges were more akin to those of spot-fixing, which is more common in cricket.
Paqueta 'categorically denied the breach" after the FA's statement and, luckily for him, has now been cleared of all charges.
(with agency inputs)
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