Lucas Paqueta to MISS crunch Premier League game after being summoned to Brazilian parliament amid betting investigation
LUCAS PAQUETA is set to miss West Ham’s Premier League clash with Leicester in December after being summoned to appear in front of a betting investigation in the Brazilian parliament.
The West Ham midfielder had been due to give evidence to Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on the Manipulation of Games and Sports Betting in Sao Paolo this week, but his legal team succeeded in getting his appearance postponed.
Lucas Paqueta will miss West Ham’s Premier League clash with Leicester in December[/caption]
The CPI ruled on Wednesday, however, that Paqueta must give evidence to Brazilian senators on December 3 as part of their investigation into illegal betting in Brazil.
West Ham travel to Leicester in the Prem on the same evening with a source close to Paqueta telling SunSport he is resigned to missing the game.
Paqueta is also under investigation in Brazil after being charged by the FA earlier this year with four counts of spot-fixing – deliberately getting himself booked in four Prem games to make money for bettors.
The 27-year-old has protested his innocence throughout and earlier this month hit out at the FA’s handling of the process which he claims is no longer confidential.
“I have instructed my lawyers to write to the FA to request that they conduct a thorough investigation into how information about the case, even if inaccurate, is finding its way into the public domain,” Paqueta wrote on X.
Paqueta’s uncle Bruno Tolentino is also being investigated in Brazil after he admitted paying former Real Betis striker Luiz Henrique £5,000 days after he received two suspicious yellow cards which triggered an integrity probe in Spain.
The two cases are linked because the suspicious betting patterns were both reported to the authorities by online gambling company Betway, West Ham’s shirt sponsor.
Many of the suspicious bets on Paqueta that led to him being charged by the FA were also placed by members of his family.
Tolentino made his appearance before the CPI as scheduled on Wednesday, but refused to answer questions other than confirming his name.
His silence was criticised by the president of the CPI, senator Jorge Kajuru, who has applied to the courts for the commission to be given access to Tolentino’s bank and phone records.
Paqueta joined West Ham from Lyon in 2022 and has since registered a total of 15 goals and 14 assists in 95 appearances.
