The FA are responsible for regulating English football and they haven’t held back in dishing out punishments to those ‘deserving of it’. The first time I witnessed a football-related ban in the Premier League was way back in 2004 (earliest was Diego Maradona in 1994) when Rio Ferdinand missed a doping test, causing him to miss the European Championships in Portugal. In more recent times, Ivan Toney found himself in hot water, earning an eight-month ban for betting breaches, and for some strange reason, Newcastle’s defensive lynchpin, Sandro Tonali, received a ban for the same issues.
The latest FA charge dominating the back pages is the update that West Ham’s attacking midfielder, Lucas Paqueta, has been charged by the FA for intentionally seeking to receive bookings, for the shameful improper purpose of affecting the betting market,
The player has been charged with four breaches of FA Rule E5.1 in relation to his conduct in the club’s Premier League fixtures against Leicester City on 12 November 2022; Aston Villa on 12 March 2023; Leeds United on 21 May 2023; and AFC Bournemouth on 12 August 2023.
It’s alleged that he directly sought to influence the progress, conduct, or any other aspect of, or occurrence in these matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting.
Lucas Paqueta has also been charged with two breaches of FA Rule F3 in respect of alleged failures to comply pursuant to FA Rule F2.
The player has until 03 June 2024 to provide a response to these charges subject to any request for an extension to this deadline.
The FA will be making no further comment until the conclusion of this case.
It is speculated that Paqueta can be banned for as long as 10 years if he’s found guilty, which shows the severity of the alleged accusations against him. The Brazilian midfielder has since responded to the charge, expressing his disappointment and frustrations,
“I am extremely surprised and upset that the FA has decided to charge me. For nine months 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. Due to the ongoing process, I will not be providing any further comment.”
While the rule books that a person charged is innocent until proven guilty, one can take some time out to review the supposed incidents in isolation. The first incident took place last season, when he scythed down Leicester’s Boubacar Soumare, before clattering into Dennis Praet.
The tackle on Soumare looked legitimate to me, as he attempted to anticipate the ball but missed, but but battering Praet in the same play was quite perplexing and bewildering.
As for the second incident, it occurred in West Ham’s home clash against Aston Villa last season, with Paqueta taking John McGinn down with a terrible and unwarranted tackle from behind.
The third incident happened last season as well, when he tugged back Leeds’ Crysensio Summerville from instigating an attack after a swift turnover. I have seen 1,001 players commit such dark arts in football, so this one kinda baffles me that the FA put it on the last. The final one, which was the most suspicious and probably triggered this investigation, was the intentional handball incident against Burnley.
The cascading impact of these allegations are very huge as it actually played a vital role in Manchester City pulling the plug on him last season, after they had reached an £80m deal with Manchester City last summer, only for the Cityzens to pull out, leaving him in West Ham’s ranks for the foreseeable future. It is believed that Paqueta is the heir-apparent to the throne that would be eventually vacated by Kevin de Bruyne, but this is doesn’t help his cause.
I’m not here to point fingers, but if the charges are really true, then it indicates that he tried to manipulate the beautiful game and I only hope he gets a befitting ban. Till then, we wait.
Sayoanara.
Follow Gooner Daily on Twitter @goonerdaily.
Visit Gooner Daily’s Facebook page.
Click on the “Follow button” to join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List
