Flamengo assesses risk and studies proposal for Lucas Paquetá

A starter for Dorival Júnior’s Brazilian national team, the West Ham midfielder awaits a decision from the English Federation on allegations of involvement with sports betting

Flamengo is assessing the risks and is considering making an offer to sign Lucas Paquetá , a midfielder for the Brazilian national team and West Ham in England. Negotiations are underway to repatriate the athlete, who is currently responding to allegations of having forced the receipt of yellow cards to benefit the sports betting market.

The negotiation was initially reported by the “ge” portal and confirmed by Itatiaia. Given the player’s legal situation, Flamengo sought assistance from the Bichara e Motta law firm, which specializes in sports law and FIFA.

It is the same one that acts in the case of Gabigol, who has appealed the complaint of attempted fraud in an anti-doping test at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

West Ham have already stated that they have no intention of loaning the player. The English club’s condition for negotiating him is a permanent transfer, in order to recover part of the investment made in the Brazilian midfielder, bought from Lyon, France, for 60 million euros in August 2022.

The English Football Association (FA) has not yet determined the outcome of the case. If he is punished in England, it will be up to FIFA to amend the suspension to global terms. In this scenario, Lucas Paquetá’s defense can still file an appeal and take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The midfielder denies the accusations.

Understand the case of Paquetá

On May 22, the West Ham-ENG midfielder was indicted by the Football Association (FA), the English federation, because he had allegedly forced the receipt of cards on four different occasions, with the aim of benefiting the betting market, according to an investigation by members of the European entity. Paquetá denies it.

The player has been charged with four breaches of FA Rule E5.1 in relation to his conduct at West Ham’s Premier League games, which were due to take place against Leicester City on 12 November 2022; Aston Villa on 12 March 2023; Leeds United on 21 May 2023; and Bournemouth on 12 August 2023.

“It is alleged that he sought to directly influence the progress, conduct or any other aspect or occurrence of those matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market so that one or more persons could profit,” the FA said in a statement.

Paquetá immediately published a response on his social media with an air of incredulity, claiming that he cooperated with the investigations and that he is innocent.

“I am extremely surprised and upset that the FA has decided to charge me. I have cooperated with every stage of the investigation and provided all the information I could during these 9 months. I deny the charges in full and will fight with all my strength to clear my name. Due to the ongoing process, I will not be providing any further comment,” the midfielder wrote.

CBF’s position on calling him up

Despite the legal imbroglio and the possibility of punishment, the CBF decided to keep Lucas Paquetá among those called up and at Dorival Júnior’s disposal for the Copa América.

The CBF sent a letter to the FA with several questions regarding the indictment. Among the questions was whether he had been preventively suspended, which was denied. And also whether there was a date for a decision, whether or not there would be punishment, to be announced. The FA responded that it would “inform the CBF about deadlines in the future.”

Itatiaia found that, in addition to the official document, the CBF management spoke behind the scenes with members of the FA and two important pieces of information were passed on:

There will be no decision until July 14, when the Copa América ends. There was a fear within the CBF that Paquetá’s suspension in the middle of the competition would shake up the group, in addition to, of course, the possibility of having one less player in the squad.

If the FA suspends him from matches within England, FIFA will still need to ban him from playing in the rest of the world, which could take some time between the FA announcing the suspension and FIFA issuing its decision.

Even so, the CBF would be in an uncomfortable situation with the midfielder in the group, even if the punishment, at first, did not reach the National Team and the Copa América;

The second is that the deadline that Paquetá had until this Monday (3) to present his defense should be extended, due to the complexity of the case. In other words, another fact that any definition will not occur in the coming weeks.

Lucas Paquetá was trained in the youth ranks of Flamengo. He played 44 games before the youngster from Ninho was sold to Milan in 2018 for 35 million euros (R$150 million at the time).

In 2020, the Italian club sold the midfielder to Lyon, France, for 20 million euros. In total, Lucas Paquetá’s transfers have already totaled 115 million euros.