Lucas Paquetá, West Ham midfielder, released a statement this Thursday (17) about the investigation by the English Football Association (FA). He is accused of possible involvement in an English football betting fraud scheme.
The accusations suggest that the midfielder forced yellow cards in four Premier League matches to benefit bettors in his hometown, Paquetá Island. The player vehemently denies these allegations.
Player’s statement
In his statement, Lucas Paquetá expresses frustration with recent news that he considers misleading and inaccurate. Thus, he claims that some published information is completely false.
See the note in full:
“I am frustrated and upset to have read recent misleading and inaccurate press articles published in England and Brazil claiming to disclose information about my case.
Some of this information is completely false and seems designed to undermine my position. I am also concerned that, although false and misleading, these articles clearly originate from an individual close to the case.
FA proceedings must be confidential and are extremely serious for me and my family. The leak and publication of inaccurate information in the press is now putting my chance of receiving a fair hearing at risk.
I have therefore instructed my lawyers to write to the FA to ask them to conduct a full investigation into how information about the case, however inaccurate, is coming into the public domain. I continue to deny the allegations against me and look forward to demonstrating my innocence.”
The player refers specifically to news published by the newspaper “The Sun” on October 8th. According to the newspaper, Paquetá would have handed over his cell phone to the FA for analysis in 2023. Later, upon receiving the device back, he would have discarded it. This led the FA to add two additional offenses to the case.
Complaints against midfielder Lucas Paquetá
The initial accusations involve four yellow cards allegedly forced by Paquetá between November 2022 and August 2023. Thus, Betway, West Ham’s sponsor, noticed an increase in bets related to these sanctions on Ilha de Paquetá, in Rio de Janeiro. Consequently, the company reported the situation to the FA.
Furthermore, Jorge Kajuru, president of the Betting CPI, announced that Paquetá will be heard in the Senate on October 29th. Thus, the invitation to the player was transformed into a summoning.
However, the midfielder continues to play for West Ham and the Brazilian national team. In other words, their next challenge will be on Saturday (19), when the team faces Tottenham in the eighth round of the Premier League.
Paquetá maintains his innocence and awaits the opportunity to formally defend himself at a hearing scheduled for March 2025. In the meantime, he remains focused on his career, seeking to maintain his performance on the field despite the controversy off it.
