West Ham star Lucas Paqueta’s career could end prematurely over alleged breaches of the Football Association’s rules, The Sun has revealed.
Paqueta has been subject to regulatory scrutiny since last August after suspicions arose that he might have been involved in betting misconduct. Last month, the Football Association (FA) charged the player with several counts of spot-fixing achieved through yellow cards for the purpose of monetary gain. Although Paqueta has denied all accusations, his career has already been impacted by the probe since last year’s investigation was announced just as he was about to be transferred to Manchester City, which effectively killed the deal.
The Sun was able to get access to the charge sheet outlining details surrounding the case, which shed light on both the accusations themselves and the potential punishment Paqueta could face.
According to the document, West Ham’s sponsor, Betway, was the gambling company that first alerted the FA of questionable betting traffic involving West Ham games and Paqueta. The Sun also disclosed that bets in favour of Paqueta being booked were made by roughly 60 individuals, with several wagers being traced back to the footballer’s home island in Brazil.
Some punters risked £400 on such bets, while others placed far more modest wagers of £7. If Paqueta indeed played to get the yellow cards on purpose, he has won the aforementioned bettors a staggering £100,000 in total. As established, The Sun also found that the FA considers these alleged actions severe enough to warrant a permanent ban should Paqueta fail to prove his innocence.
Other Types of Betting Transgressions Lead to Less Severe Punishment
Betting misconduct is not a rarity in UK sports, although allegations of match-fixing, in particular, tend to be far from common when it comes to FA charges and the conduct of other sports organisations. An example of a player whose betting transgressions did not involve such accusations is cricketer Brydon Carse.
At the end of May, he was found guilty of having partaken in sports betting on cricket matches held between 2017 and 2019, but all of his 303 bets had been placed on games that he had not played in. He has been handed a 16-month ban, and 13 months have been suspended for two years due to mitigating factors such as Carse showing remorse and cooperating with investigators.
Another similar case is that of Ivan Toney, who last year pleaded guilty to having placed over 230 bets on football. Wagers made on games his own club had participated in accounted for nearly 30 of the bets, and 13 were bets against his team winning. However, as he had not played in any of the aforementioned games, there were no suspicions of match-fixing. The FA banned Toney for eight months, and the suspension ended in early 2024. He is now back to playing professionally.
- Author
Daniel Williams
