The trial of Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paquetá for alleged handling in football to favor gamblers begins on Monday (17) in England, scheduled for up to three weeks.
West Ham’s 27 -year -old athlete was accused in May last year by FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (the English Football Federation) of deliberately seeking yellow cards during four Premier League games in 2022 and 2023.
“[Paquetá] He directly tried to influence these games by intentionally seeking to receive a referee card with the improper purpose of affecting the betting market for one or more people to profit from betting, “the FA said in a statement.
The games in which the athlete would have forced the card were against Leicester (November 12, 2022), Aston Villa (March 12, 2023), Leeds (May 21, 2023) and Bournemouth (August 12, 2023).
According to the investigations, the cards would have coincided with an increase in the volume of online bets from Paquetá Island, region in Guanabara Bay where the player was born.
According to the English media, the federation calls for the banishment of midfielder revealed at the base of Flamengo.
Paquetá denied any irregularity. “I am extremely surprised and upset that FA has decided to accuse me,” the Brazilian said in a statement on social networks at the time.
“I cooperated with all the stages of the investigation and provided all the information I could during these nine months. I deny the full accusations and fight with all my strength to clean my name.”
The player also criticized the media disclosure of information about the FA investigation. He stated that reports are based on “false and misleading” information and aim to “undermine” their defense.
The federation and the player will present in the coming days of their arguments to an independent committee. The decision has no deadline to be disclosed and the parties will still be able to resort to CAS (arbitral cut of sport) in Switzerland. Until then, the midfielder can continue to act normally for his club and the Brazilian team.
Similar situations involving other players who have defended English clubs in recent years show that punishments can be heavy.
By 2022, English defender Kynan Isaac was suspended for ten years for forcing a yellow card while defending Statford Town, in a match against the 2021 Shrewsbury Town for the Cup of England.
