In a parallel universe, Lucas Paqueta would be celebrating his first English championship title with his comrades from Manchester City. But in reality, he is on the phone with his lawyers preparing his defense. He has until June 3 to officially respond to the accusations of the English Federation, which accuses him of having fixed matches by deliberately collecting yellow cards. This investigation has been carried out for almost a year and had its first impact last August, when it scuppered the expected transfer to Manchester City, for a sum reaching €100 million.
Faced with the suspicions of the FA, the Citizens preferred to step back and wait to see the outcome of the investigation. Until yesterday, when the accusations took a very concrete turn. As revealed by Daily Mail, Manchester City was once again ready to pounce on the 26-year-old Brazilian, whose profile greatly appeals to Pep Guardiola. Both technical and rough, Paqueta has become a complete midfielder perfectly suited to the Premier League. An agreement was even ready again for this summer, with a generally similar amount. But other clubs had also already come to West Ham, who had prepared to sell him this summer.
Paqueta Island in the viewfinder
Everything fell apart on Thursday, and it is difficult to see today how Paqueta will succeed in defending himself. Already because the FA accuses him at the same time of failing to cooperate in the investigation. He did not provide all the elements requested by the FA as part of its investigation… Then because it is difficult to dispute certain more than equivocal facts. For example, the place from where the abnormal number of bets was detected: Paqueta Island. Where Lucas Tolentino Coelho de Lima, who became Lucas Paqueta, came from.
On four occasions, against Leicester in 2022, against Aston Villa and Leeds in 2023 (for the 2022-2023 season), then against Bournemouth in August 2023 (therefore counting for the season which has just ended), the betting site Betway, West Ham’s jersey sponsor what’s more, counted a strange surplus of bets on a yellow card from Lucas Paqueta and therefore informed the regulatory body (International Betting Integrity Association), which in turn alerted FIFA and then the FA. The latest yellow card, received on August 12 in the 93rd minute of a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth, came after the Brazilian had been warned that an investigation was underway for these reasons. It could now earn him a suspension much greater than a simple match…
