Lucas Paqueta Charged By FA Over Betting Breaches
West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta has been charged by the Football Association for allegedly getting booked on purpose to aid the betting market.
Paqueta has until June 3 to respond to the charge.
It is alleged that yellow cards received by Paqueta in matches against Leicester City in November 2022, Aston Villa in March 2023, Leeds United in May 2023 and Bournemouth August 2023 were suspicious as an unusual number of bets were placed on that probability in his home country of Brazil.
An FA statement said: "It's alleged that he [Paqueta] 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."
Paqueta has denied the allegations in a statement on X, writing: "I am extremely surprised and upset that The FA has decided to charge me.
"For nine months, I have co-operated with every step of their investigation and provided all the information I can.
"I deny the charges in their entirety and will fight with every breath to clear my name. Due to the ongoing process, I will not be providing any further comment."
West Ham pledged to stand by their player.
"The club acknowledges receipt of the FA charge received by Lucas Paqueta for alleged breaches of their rules," a spokesperson said.
"Lucas categorically denies the breach and will continue to robustly defend his position.
"The club will continue to stand by and support the player throughout the process and will make no further comment until the matter is concluded."
