August 1 – West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta has been cleared of spot-fixing by an independent regulatory commission, though still faces punishment for failing to cooperate with the Football Association’s investigation.
The English FA began their investigation after the Brazilian international was accused of getting yellow card booking deliberately “for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market”. The four West Ham matches took place between November 2022 and August 2023 against Leicester City, Aston Villa, Leeds United, and Bournemouth.
The commission found these spot-fixing charges “to be not proven” following a hearing that concluded in May.
Paqueta was also charged with two counts of failing to co-operate with the investigation in terms of providing information and documents.
He also denied these charges, but the commission found them to be proven and will meet again to decide on a sanction.
On Instagram Paqueta said: “The enemy will come against us one way, but they will flee seven ways. Since the first day of this investigation, I have maintained my innocence against these extremely serious accusations.
“I can’t say anything more now, but I also can’t express how grateful I am to God and how eager I am to return to playing football with a smile on my face,” he continued.
West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady welcomed the decision, saying: “We are pleased Lucas has been cleared. He has maintained his innocence from the outset, and as a club we have resolutely stood by him and supported him throughout the process.”
West Ham head coach Graham Potter said in May that the case had taken its toll mentally and physically on the player.
Paqueta was left in tears after being booked against Tottenham in May, with his wife Maria Fournier posting they had been “living this nightmare for two years.”
Football’s battle against betting related match fixing is on-going with the betting monitoring agencies matching on-field incidents to any suspicious movements in the online betting markets. The agencies’ evidence is now widely used in legal cases and accepted unchallenged in most legal cases.
Rules are that players, club and league officials are not allowed to bet on any football matches, whether they are involved in the match or not. England international Ivan Toney received an eight-month ban for betting breaches in May 2023, while Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali was suspended for 10 months following a similar case in Italy, with the FA adding a further suspended two-month ban.
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