West Ham fears that Lucas Paqueta is set up to lose his seismic fight with the football association which could see the Brazilian star prohibited for life if he turned out to have broken the rules of Paris.
Senior sources of Hammers have told Mail Sport that they are not confident of a victory because they believe that the chances are stacked against the Premier League club and their player.
This is due to the standard of evidence based on a “balance of probabilities” – as in civil law affairs – as opposed to the more rigorous “out of reasonable” threshold applied in criminal procedures.
In other words, the FA only has to prove that it is more likely that Improbable that PAQUETA is committed to fixing the points by being deliberately reserved to influence the markets of the betting, and the initiates of West Ham described it as “ wild ” and “ very bad ”, a career could be destroyed on a potential verdict of 51% of 51%.
Under AF rules, the civil standard of “probabilities balance” is used by their regulatory commissions in cases.
West Ham continued to support Pacouta in the hope of proving his innocence and the player himself remains determined to erase his name, after having denied the accusations since Mail Sport broke the history of the FA investigation in August 2023.
Lucas Paqueta is accused of being deliberately reserved in four different games between November 2022 and August 2023
Senior sources of West Ham admitted having sent an email to sport that they are not confident to win the case of package
Senior sources of West Ham admitted having sent an email to sport that they are not confident to win the case of package
Almost two years later, and with that having become one of the most prominent cases of the Premier League, its audience should ultimately be scheduled for this month. It could last three weeks, although we have confirmed that the 27 -year -old will be allowed to continue playing for West Ham while this is in progress. The Hammers welcome Newcastle on Monday.
It was in May 2024 that the FA officially billed fault with fault, alleging that he had deliberately received four distinct yellow cards to allow winning bets. They linked to warnings presented in the Premier League matches against Leicester in November 2022, Aston Villa in March 2023, Leeds in May 2023 and Bournemouth in August 2023.
In their declaration at the time, the FA said: “ It is alleged that it directly sought to influence progress, driving or any other aspect or occurrence in these matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee with the inappropriate goal of affecting the betting market so that one or more people benefit from bets. ”
The Brazilian international was also responsible for not complying with the FA investigation while Pacqueta published his own statement in response, declaring: “I deny the accusations in their entirety and I will fight with each breath to erase my name”.
It is said that FA requests a life ban for Pacouta, although the association refused to comment on the case during the contact on Friday. The West Ham agency and the Package agency, Roc Nation Sports, were also contacted.
Paqueta was a key player for West Ham since his signing in Lyon for a club record of 51 million pounds Sterling in 2022, and it was his help for Jarrod Bowen who saw them beat La Fiorentina in the conference league final in Prague in 2023, marking his first major trophy in 43 years.