The investigation into match-fixing in European football, which involves the name of Lucas Paquetá, from West Ham, has gained new elements. Proof of bank transfers obtained by the UOL portal show that the midfielder’s relatives made payments totaling R$40,000 to Luiz Henrique, Botafogo striker.
The transactions raised suspicions because they coincided with games in which Luiz Henrique was punished with yellow cards, a scenario that was already being investigated by bookmakers and football authorities.
English investigation and suspicions of manipulated bets
The English Football Association (FA) is conducting a detailed investigation into possible match-fixing that would benefit punters.
Lucas Paquetá faces accusations of forcing yellow cards in matches, which allegedly generated substantial profits for family members and other bettors. After the transfers were discovered, Luiz Henrique was included in the case, linking both players to the same group of people.
The analysis of suspicious bets, carried out by a monitoring company, points to an abnormal volume of bets on yellow cards involving offensive players — something unusual in the market.
The report on Luiz Henrique highlights cards received for fouls against Getafe and Celta in January and February 2023. In March, another suspicious bet involved the Betis v Villarreal game, where he also received a card.
The investigation into the suspicious bets reveals a pattern of behavior that includes creating multiple new accounts and betting the maximum amount allowed.
Despite this evidence, the English Football Association (FA) did not include Luiz Henrique in its official investigation. This is due to the FA restricting its jurisdiction to events directly related to British football.
Defense of Luiz Henrique and Paquetá’s relatives
Bruno Tolentino, Paquetá’s uncle and responsible for one of the transfers to Luiz Henrique, admits that he bet and won money on Botafogo and West Ham games, but vehemently denies having used any type of privileged information to profit.
He also denied that the R$40,000 sent to Luiz Henrique had anything to do with sports betting. According to him, the amounts transferred refer to a personal debt he owed to the player.
“It was money I owed him. As soon as I got it, I paid it. It has nothing to do with betting,” said Bruno in an interview with Uol. He explained that the deposits were divided into two installments due to bank limits.
Positions of clubs and federations
The directors of Botafogo and Betis, Luiz Henrique’s former club, reacted quickly to the suspicions, reinforcing that there is no pending investigation against the player.
Betis stated that it consulted both the Spanish Federation (RFEF) and the CBF. Furthermore, both confirmed that Luiz Henrique did not face any type of lawsuit or accusation.
On the other hand, Botafogo, which paid 16 million euros to sign the striker at the beginning of 2024, reiterated its confidence in the athlete, based on official documents that prove the absence of evaluations or investigations.
La Liga, through its legal director, María José López Lorenzo, reinforced that Luiz Henrique was never the target of any disciplinary procedure. The entity also highlighted that, legally, the responsibility for investigating players lies with the RFEF, which also found no reason to open any investigation against the attack.
Impact on call-ups for the Brazilian National Team of Paquetá and Luiz Henrique
The developments in the investigation did not go unnoticed by the technical committee of the Brazilian team.
In August 2023, Lucas Paquetá and Luiz Henrique were removed from the squad at critical moments. Fernando Diniz excluded Paquetá, who was frequently called up, from the games against Bolivia and Peru. Luiz Henrique was called up to the under-23 team for friendlies against Morocco, but ended up being excluded from the list at the last minute.
Later, both players returned to the call-up lists. Dorival Júnior called up Paquetá for the 2024 Copa América. On the other hand, Luiz Henrique had a different trajectory.
This is because he made his debut for the main team in September 2024, in a match valid for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers. On that occasion, Luiz Henrique participated in the victory over Ecuador.
