Lucas Paquetá (26 years old) repeatedly violated the rules last year and the year before, and according to recent reports, he risks a lifetime ban. The Brazilian midfielder from West Ham is alleged to have deliberately received four yellow cards between November 2022 and August 2023.
Paquetá reportedly received yellow cards intentionally in matches against Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Leeds, and Leicester. This behavior has been assessed as “influencing betting odds to allow one or more individuals to profit from bets.”
Born near Rio de Janeiro, Paquetá faces complications due to one of the London club’s sponsors, Betway, the betting company that noticed the suspicious patterns a few months ago and flagged the unusual bets on yellow cards.
Unknown individuals were placing bets in the footballer’s hometown, focusing exclusively on yellow cards during the aforementioned matches. Bets ranged from £7 to £400, and in total, the “lucky” bettors won £100,000.
Paquetá has been under suspicion of illegal betting since August of last year, has been under investigation since May, and had until yesterday to comment on the case. The FA will now consider the latest suspicions and evidence, and if found guilty, the 26-year-old midfielder could face a lifetime ban.
“Over the past nine months, I have cooperated with the investigation at every stage and provided all the information I had. I completely reject all allegations and will fight to my last breath to clear my name,” Paquetá wrote on social media in the latter half of last month.
Paquetá has previously played for AC Milan and Lyon and has 44 caps for the Brazilian national team. The coming days and weeks will be of great interest to Manchester City, which has shown interest in the player. The transfer was supposed to happen a year ago but was derailed by suspicions, leading to the signing of Matheus Nunes as an alternative.