West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta cleared of spot-fixing charges

Lucas Paqueta has been cleared of misconduct charges related to alleged breaches of Football Association betting rules, his club West Ham have announced.

The Brazilian was charged with four alleged breaches of FA Rule E5.1 by the FA in May 2024 in relation to matches involving West Ham.

It was alleged Paqueta directly sought to influence 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.

West Ham United can confirm that an independent Regulatory Commission has cleared Lucas Paquetá of misconduct charges made against him by the Football Association for alleged breaches of FA rule E5.

— West Ham United (@WestHam) July 31, 2025

He denied the charges and an independent regulatory commission found them not proven following a hearing. The FA said two charges against Paqueta related to a failure to co-operate with its investigation had been found proven.

The FA said a commission would decide on an appropriate sanction for those proven breaches “at the earliest opportunity”.

The games Paqueta had allegedly sought to influence were the Hammers’ Premier League matches against Leicester on November 12th, 2022, Aston Villa on March 12th, 2023, Leeds on May 21st, 2023 and Bournemouth on August 12th, 2023.

Paqueta said in quotes released via the club: “Since the first day of this investigation, I have maintained my innocence against these extremely serious accusations.

“I can’t say anything more at this time, but I would like to express how grateful I am to God and how eager I am to return to playing football with a smile on my face.

“To my wife who never let go of my hand, to West Ham United, to the fans