West Ham winger Lucas Paqueta has been charged by the English Football Association for "intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market."
Paqueta is alleged to have intentionally received the cards in four games: against Leicester City in Nov. 2022, Aston Villa in March 2023, Leeds in May 2023 and Bournemouth in Aug. 2023.
Wagering on cards is uncommon, and suspicious betting patterns can be easily discerned by authorities based on large, out of the ordinary bets.
Paqueta has denied all allegations in an Instagram post.
"I am extremely surprised and upset that the FA has decided to charge me," he said. "I have cooperated with every step of their investigation and provided all the information I can. I deny the charges in their entirety and will fight with every breath to clear my name. I will not be providing any further comment."
Paqueta joined West Ham on a $63 million deal in 2022 from Lyon and has done his best to uphold his end of the deal, serving as a week-in, week-out starter for a team that won a European trophy last season.
The winger was first alleged to have violated betting rules in Aug. 2023. But he's been permitted to play through the violations as the English FA built its case.
He was also a member of Brazil's 2022 World Cup team, which lost to Croatia in the quarterfinals.
