This affair could cause a lot of harm to Lucas Paqueta. Just one year after his arrival in England, the Brazilian midfielder from West Ham thought he was having a crazy summer when Manchester City pushed to recruit him. The Cityzens were willing to pay more than €80 million to secure his services. But just when he thought he was reaching a milestone in his career, an investigation by the FA (English federation) ruined everything.
Clearly, the former resident of Olympique Lyonnais is accused of being involved in a sports betting affair. Some of his relatives are in fact suspected of having bet on matches where Paqueta played and where he was sanctioned with yellow cards. Since then, an FA investigation has been underway and the player is at his worst. Manchester City withdrew from negotiations and the Brazilian selection will no longer call on him until the verdict is rendered.
Threat of extended suspension looms over Paqueta
In Brazil, this matter is logically taken very seriously and no one will do Paqueta any favors, even if he is one of the best representatives of the Seleção. Senator Jorge Kajuru, announced as the future president of the Sports Betting Commission in Brazil, spoke about this scourge affecting many players in his country. “On its website, FIFA listed the 11 players sanctioned in Brazilian sport, with penalties ranging from 360 days of suspension to banishment from football, which is the sanction I prefer”he confided, in comments relayed by Senado Agency.
Determined to act firmly against these practices, Kajuru then specifically mentioned the cases of Lucas Paqueta and Luiz Henrique (Betis), another player caught, clearly threatening to extend the possible suspensions of these two players to the world level. “The English and Spanish federations have opened investigations into the two Brazilians. We must now wait to see whether they will be sanctioned or not. If this is the case, the confederations may request the territorial extension of the sanction and FIFA the global extension. Honestly, I hope we don’t see Brazil, the country with the most footballers in the world, become an exporter of sports betting illegalities. That would be a shame! » Paqueta is warned.
