{"id":320798,"date":"2024-05-23T19:15:40","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T00:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=320798"},"modified":"2024-05-24T09:18:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T14:18:37","slug":"lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucas Paqueta Faces Serious, Potentially Career-Ending Spot-Fixing Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brazil and West Ham soccer star Lucas Paqueta<\/a> was charged by England\u2019s Football Association (FA) Thursday with deliberately seeking to \u201creceive a card from the referee for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lucas
Lucas Paqueta receives a yellow card during a game against Leicester City at the London Stadium in November 2022. The incident is one of four that form the basis of spot-fixing charges filed against the player. (Image: Press Association)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The seriousness of the charges are unprecedented in the English Premier League.<\/p>\n

In a brief statement, Paqueta said he \u201cdenied the charges in their entirety,\u201d adding that he would \u201cfight with every breath to clear my name.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

If found guilty, Paqueta\u2019s career could be over. He is just 26 years old.<\/p>\n

FA Probe<\/strong><\/h2>\n

An FA investigation<\/a> was triggered last summer by reports of suspicious betting patterns around an injury-time yellow card Paqueta received in West Ham\u2019s draw at Bournemouth on Aug. 12, 2023.<\/p>\n

It subsequently expanded to include bookings received in three additional games against Leicester City on Nov. 12, 2022, Aston Villa on March 12, 2023, and Leeds United on May 21, 2023.<\/p>\n

Manchester City Deal Sunk<\/strong><\/h2>\n

News of the investigation torpedoed Paqueta\u2019s planned transfer to Manchester City in the summer of 2023. The current English Premier League champion had agreed a deal in principle to sign the up-and-coming star. Many expected the deal to be revived this summer if Paqueta were cleared.<\/p>\n

Some of the suspicious bets were placed in Duque de Caxias, a city on Brazil\u2019s Guanabara Bay. Paqueta hails from Paqueta Island, a tiny land mass in Guanabara Bay. His real name is Lucas Tolentino Coelho de Lima, but he adopted \u201cPaqueta\u201d as a tribute to his birthplace.<\/p>\n

Other sketchy bets were placed with West Ham\u2019s jersey sponsor Betway, which doesn’t take bets from Brazil.<\/p>\n

Paqueta hasn’t been charged with placing bets himself, but people close to him are suspected of doing so, The Times<\/em> of London recently reported.<\/p>\n

He is essentially accused of spot-fixing. This is where minute aspects of the game, such as yellow cards, are manipulated by a single player, rather than a larger conspiracy to fix the actual result.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spot-fixing at the elite level of English soccer is unheard of. It\u2019s unclear why Paqueta, who earns around $9 million a year at West Ham, would agree to risk wrecking his career just as it was about to explode. The player would have earned significantly higher wages had he made the move to City.<\/p>\n

Charges Unprecedented <\/strong><\/h2>\n

While several Premier League players have been caught up in gambling scandals<\/a> in recent years \u2013 usually for betting on games — none have been accused of manipulating the action. If Paqueta is found guilty, it would be unprecedented at this level.<\/p>\n

It comes as major leagues in the US have expressed concern about the potential for spot-fixing in the new sports betting markets.<\/p>\n

\n

In April, the NBA dished out a lifetime ban<\/a> to the Toronto Raptors\u2019 Jontay Porter after he shared insider information with gamblers. This allowed them to profit from bets on his performance in two games last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Supporters of sports betting in the US, including NBA commissioner Adam Silver, argue that regulation means match-fixing is detected because licensed operators report suspicious betting patterns, thereby safeguarding the integrity of the game.<\/p>\n

Detractors argue that illegal street corner bookies do not offer in-play bets on the performance of individual players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brazil and West Ham soccer star Lucas Paqueta was charged by England\u2019s Football Association (FA) Thursday with deliberately seeking to \u201creceive a card from the referee for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market.\u201d The seriousness of the charges are unprecedented in the English Premier League. In a brief statement, Paqueta said he \u201cdenied […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":320799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86644,1,82966,1074],"tags":[40,91026,87650,83207,82204,91025,84496,87651],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLucas Paqueta Faces Unprecedented EPL Spot-Fixing Charges<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lucas Paqueta, Brazil and West Ham English Premier League soccer star, faces unprecedented and serious spot-fixing charges.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lucas Paqueta Faces Unprecedented EPL Spot-Fixing Charges\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lucas Paqueta, Brazil and West Ham English Premier League soccer star, faces unprecedented and serious spot-fixing charges.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-24T00:15:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-24T14:18:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/paq.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges\/\",\"name\":\"Lucas Paqueta Faces Unprecedented EPL Spot-Fixing Charges\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/paq.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-24T00:15:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-24T14:18:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Lucas Paqueta, Brazil and West Ham English Premier League soccer star, faces unprecedented and serious spot-fixing charges.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucas-paqueta-faces-unprecedented-epl-spot-fixing-charges\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/paq.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/paq.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":562,\"caption\":\"Lucas Paqueta receives a yellow card during a game against Leicester City at the London Stadium in November 2022. 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