Card received by Paquetá in the 1st game accelerated the calculation of bets

The yellow card received by Lucas Paquetá right in the first official game of West Ham in the 2022/2023 season reinforced the suspicions of the Football Association of England (FA, its acronym in English) about the involvement of the Brazilian midfielder with sports betting.

Upon becoming aware of the warning, the organization accelerated the investigations it had been conducting for five months, according to information obtained by the British newspaper daily mail. In contact with the Estadão report, the player’s staff said they had no information about the process and that they are following developments through the press.

The match in question was against bournemouthon August 11, and ended in a 1-1 tie. According to the Daily Mail, before that, at least other two games in which Paquetá received a yellow card were already being investigated, both from last season: the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa, on March 12th, and the 3-1 victory over Leeds, on May 21st.

The FA reportedly received an anti-corruption warning from authorities on Monday morning, three days after the Bournemouth game, before informing West Ham and the player, who it did not yet know was the subject of an investigation. On Friday (18) of the same week, the case became public hours before Fernando Diniz’s first call-up to the Brazilian national team and Paquetá was cut. Diniz said that the athlete was cut because of the suspicions.

Manchester City, which was trying to sign the athlete, withdrew from the negotiation. West Ham, on the other hand, handled the issue in a different way. The midfielder remained part of the squad, went to the field in the 3-1 victory over Chelsea, last Sunday, and even scored a goal.

the case

The investigated bets would have been made by people close to Lucas Paquetá. On sites of this nature, it is possible to bet on whether a player will receive a yellow or red card. England strictly supervises the sector and does not allow players and people from the surrounding area to bet. Recently, Brentford striker Ivan Toney was suspended for eight months from all football-related activities for breaching sports betting rules in the country.

Paquetá had his testimony in the case postponed by up to three weeks. Last Monday, the Football Association of England (FA) accepted West Ham’s request for the clarification of the Brazilian midfielder to be postponed. According to the Daily Mail, the request was made so that it was possible to understand the reasons that made the entity ask Paquetá to talk about the case. The information was confirmed by the Estadão report with the athlete’s staff.

At first, Lucas Paquetá made himself available to give any kind of clarification about what happened to the authorities in an interview. Subsequently, the FA sent a statement to West Ham requesting a statement, without giving further details on the basis of the request. Because of this, the club chose to request a postponement of up to three weeks, making it clear that they want to know the reasons for this statement in advance.