Lucas Paqueta of West Ham United has to take a stand with the English Football Association. The FA accuses the Brazilian of deliberately receiving yellow cards in order to influence the betting market. Is he facing a lengthy ban?
Lucas Paqueta has appeared in 31 of 38 Premier League matches this season. The fact that the Brazilian has not made any further appearances for West Ham United is also due to the 26-year-old’s affinity for yellow cards – he has received ten in the course of this season, compared to five cautions in the previous season.
Four games in focus
The English Football Association (FA) is now accusing Paqueta of deliberately receiving four of the 15 cards he has received in the past two years. As the FA wrote in a statement published on Thursday, the allegations relate to Paqueta’s yellow cards received in matches against Leicester City (0:2) on November 12, 2022, Aston Villa (1:1) on March 12, 2023, Leeds United (3:1) on May 21, 2023 and AFC Bournemouth (1:1) on August 12, 2023.
Paqueta “is alleged to have directly attempted to influence the course, conduct or any other aspect of these matches by deliberately attempting to obtain a card from the referee in order to influence the betting market so that one or more persons could profit from betting,” the FA writes. “Lucas Paqueta has also been charged with two breaches of FA Law F3 for failing to comply with FA Law F2. “
Paqueta denies allegations
Rule F2 entitles the association to demand documents and evidence and to request an appearance for questions and the provision of information. According to Paqueta, the fact that he did not comply with this is not true. He had cooperated with the FA for over nine months and provided all information, which is why he was surprised by the FA’s decision to charge him, according to a statement published on the Instagram platform. Paqueta denies the allegations “in full and I will fight with every breath to keep my name clear.”
The player now has until June 3 to respond to the allegations, subject to an application to extend the deadline. If the allegation is proven, Paqueta could face a ban of between six months and life imprisonment, according to The Times. Prominent examples who have recently received long bans for sports betting-related offenses include Ivan Toney (Brentford FC) and Sandro Tonali (AC Milan/Newcastle United).