West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta is being investigated by the Football Association over alleged breaches of the body’s betting rules.
The investigation comes after the Brazilian star’s collapsed £85m move to Manchester City after the Premier League champions withdrew its interest in Paqueta over confidential reasons.
It has since been revealed that Paqueta was allegedly involved in a betting ring from his hometown of Guanabara Bay, Brazil, where bets were placed on West Ham games Paqueta was involved in.
Questions rose as bets were being placed on Paqueta on in-game related incidents, such as bookings, shots on target, etc., from his hometown which alerted the FA and began the subsequent investigation.
Whilst it is believed that no bets placed on the West Ham star involved the outcome of its matches, Paqueta has immediately denied any wrongdoing and his legal team and representatives are yet to make a formal comment on the investigation.
Paqueta was still eligible to play in West Ham’s 3-1 victory over Chelsea last Sunday (August 20) with manager David Moyes confirming he will play if the player was in the right state of mind.
The Brazilian international scored the decisive penalty in extra-time to secure the victory over its London neighbours.
Paqueta becomes the latest Premier League player to be involved in alleged breaches of the FA’s betting rules after Brentford’s Ivan Toney was charged on 232 accounts and subsequently banned for eight months.
Nottingham Forest full-back Harry Toffolo has also been charged by the FA for breaking betting protocols after he was found to have broken the rules whilst playing out on loan for several EFL sides.
