The end of the first week in Lucas Paquetá’s ‘bets for yellow cards’ spot-fixing inquiry has concluded. It is frustrating relying on snippets from the confidential enquiry to try and gauge what is happening within. Paquetá’s whole livelihood is at stake with the FA determined to press for a lifetime ban if the Brazilian is found guilty.
The latest update from Sky’s Kaveh Solhekol came last night and has made me sit up and take notice.
Sky’s report detail some of the ‘unusually large’ bets placed on the Brazilian:
“The FA has charged him in relation to his conduct in matches against Leicester in November 2022, Aston Villa in March 2023, Leeds in May 2023 and Bournemouth last August. The bets in question are believed to have been placed by friends and family, with some 60 bets in total for relatively small stakes. Half of the suspicious bets at the heart of the case were under £50, with most under £100. One was for £7, while one of the bets, placed by a relative, was flagged as “unusually large” because it was $40 (£30).”
Now I’m no legal expert but when somebody flags a figure as ‘unusually large’ It would be reasonable to expect it to have several zero’s on the end: £30 is less than the price of a pair of shorts on the club web site.
An ‘unusually large’ bet flagged was for £30. WHUFC.COM currently sells a pair of shorts for £32. Just saying.
According to Solhekol,
“His defence will argue that he has a poor disciplinary record that gamblers were aware of, and that is why bets were placed on him to receive yellow cards. Since he moved to West Ham in August 2022, he has received 22 yellow cards – more than anyone else at the club. In the same period, only five Premier League players have been shown more yellow cards.”
Which is enough to raise an eyebrow, shall we say. The inquiry is ongoing so until all of the details emerge at the end, best not to leap to conclusions.
More when it is made public.
As always, of course, important to state that Lucas Paquetá denies any wrongdoing.
