West Ham star Lucas Paqueta has been charged with misconduct by the FA over allegations he deliberately earned yellow cards in Premier League matches as part of a betting scheme.
Following a lengthy investigation into potential breaches, the FA published its charges on Thursday, accusing the Brazilian of “intentionally seeking to receive a card” in four Premier League games “for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting”.
The FA’s announcement came only hours after West Ham had welcomed the start of a new era by unveiling Julen Lopetegui as their new head coach.
Three of the matches in question - against Leicester City, Aston Villa and Leeds - came during the 2022/23 season, with the fourth, against Bournemouth, taking place at the start of the current campaign.
A West Ham statement confirmed Paqueta “categorically denies the breach and will continue to robustly defend his position”. He is expected to appeal ahead of the FA’s deadline on June 3.
“I am extremely surprised and upset that the FA has decided to charge me,” Paqueta wrote on X, formally known as Twitter. “For nine months, I have cooperated 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.”
News of the FA’s investigation emerged in August last year following reports of suspicious betting patterns in his native Brazil around a series of bookings during his first season in English football.
The scandal saw a proposed move to Manchester City fall through and while the champions were expected to revive their interest this summer, that now looks highly unlikely, with Paqueta potentially facing a lengthy ban if found guilty.
Though neither case relates to similar breaches, last year, Brentford striker Ivan Toney was banned for eight months after being found guilty of betting breaches by the FA, while Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali is still serving a ten-month suspension for gambling offences imposed by the Italian FA and extended worldwide by FIFA.
“West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta has been charged with misconduct in relation to alleged breaches of FA Rules E5 and F3,” an FA statement said.
“The player has been charged with four breaches of FA Rule E5.1 in relation to his conduct in the club’s Premier League fixtures against Leicester City on 12 November 2022; Aston Villa on 12 March 2023; Leeds United on 21 May 2023; and AFC Bournemouth on 12 August 2023.
“It’s alleged 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.”
He has also been charged with two breaches FA Rule F3, which relates to a failure to “provide documents, information or any other material held in relation to a request by The Football Association”.
Paqueta has continued to feature regularly for West Ham throughout the season and the club has already said it will “continue to stand by and support the player throughout the process”.
The 26-year-old was initially dropped by the Brazilian national side when news of the investigation emerged last year but was recalled by new head coach Dorival Junior for March’s friendly against England and has been included in their squad for this summer’s Copa America.
