Lucas Paqueta Charged For Betting Breaches

The Brazilian international Lucas Paqueta has been charged by the FA for the "improper purpose of affecting the betting market". Paqueta, who joined West Ham in the summer of 2022 for a fee of £36.5 million, stated that he was taken about and is really upset at the allegations. For the time being, the Hammers are standing by his side. 

Which Games Do the Charges Relate to?

The English Football Association has been investigating several matches that the Brazilian participated in, alleging that he deliberately attempted to receive a yellow card to influence the betting market. There are four matches that have drawn the most attention are the following: 

⏩ West Ham 0-2 Leicester (10/11/2022): Paqueta was booked in the 60th minute for a thrust against Boubakary Soumare. 

⏩ West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa (12/03/2023): Paqueta was booked in the 70th minute for a strong challenge against John McGinn.

⏩ West Ham 3-1 Leeds United (21/05/2023): Paqueta was booked in the 65th minute for pulling back Crysencio Summerville who had started a counter-attack.

⏩ West Ham 1-1 Bournemouth (12/08/2023): Paqueta was booked in the 94th minute for handball. 

The investigation has been ongoing for at least nine months, with Paqueta stating that he has fully cooperated until this point and has provided the FA with all the information he could. However, recently, he was also charged with two breaches of FA's Rule F3, which relates to offering necessary documents to the association. 

Paqueta was scheduled to appear in Copa America with Brazil but has until June 3rd to provide all the necessary documents and reply to the misconduct charges. If he fails to do so, he could face a lengthy ban. Remember that Brentford's Ivan Toney was suspended for 8 months, while Newcastle's Kieran Trippier was banned for 10 weeks.