Lucas Paquetá is expected to be cleared of spot-fixing in the coming days, ending a two-year ordeal that threatened his career. The 27-year-old West Ham midfielder faced a potential life ban after being charged in May last year with four counts of deliberately receiving yellow cards to influence betting markets, allegedly for the benefit of friends and family.
The Football Association also charged him with failing to cooperate with the investigation, which began in August 2023 and covered four Premier League matches between November 2022 and August 2023. A regulatory commission heard the case from 17 March and retired in early June; it has reportedly delivered a favourable verdict for Paquetá, who has always maintained his innocence.
The charges related to yellow cards against Leicester City (November 2022), Aston Villa (March 2023), Leeds United (May 2023) and Bournemouth (August 2023). Suspicious betting patterns were detected, with around 60 bets traced to Paquetá Island off Rio de Janeiro, but Paquetá himself placed no bets. The highest bet was £400 and the lowest £7.
Paquetá’s move to Manchester City for £85m collapsed when the investigation emerged. His wife, Maria Fournier, said he had been “living this nightmare for two years”. The Brazilian, who cost West Ham a club-record £51m from Lyon in 2022, has consistently denied wrongdoing and cooperated with the probe, calling the charges “extremely surprising”.
