The Football Association’s betting investigation into Lucas Paqueta is still ongoing, despite being both excruciatingly slow and clandestine. It has been three months since Mail Sport revealed that detectives were looking into West Ham’s Brazilian player Magnifico.
September was the month of the interview. October, they checked his cell phone. As November approaches, the Football Association (FA) has not provided any indication as to when we can anticipate a positive or negative result from its investigation into the winning yellow card bets that raised questions.
The Brazilian Football Confederation is reportedly annoyed with how quickly the investigation into a player who has long maintained his innocence is proceeding, according to sources. Before Fernando Diniz’s most recent squad announcement, they felt compelled to honor their vow not to utilize him until this complicated situation was settled, therefore their request for an update was unacceptable.
When they play England at Wembley Stadium in March, Diniz this week referred to Paqueta as “one of the best of his generation” and said he could only hope they had an answer by the next international break.
Though there won’t be any celebrations until the verdict is announced, there is growing confidence in Brazil that detectives are finding it difficult to connect anything incriminating to the 26-year-old, whose flair and freedom for West Ham have wowed the Premier League this season.
Though Paqueta has been vacationing there with his family, there are worse locations to be in exile than Marbella. Nevertheless, the Brazilian might have seen his thoughts straying to Rio de Janeiro—and not just because he was spotted working out in the hotel gym while sporting the national team’s shorts.
He would have been somewhere this week, in Rio. Brazil’s sixth 2026 World Cup qualifier will go place at the Estadio do Maracana without him due to this investigation. Instead, Paqueta will observe from a distance as Bruno Guimaraes and the other Premier League representatives form a yellow line-up.
In contrast to Diniz, David Moyes, the manager of West Ham, is unafraid to stick with Paqueta, having supported him from the beginning. Insiders at the club claim they are impressed with his everyday output, especially with the impact he is making in the major games.
Paqueta texted his wife Duda before the Premier League match against Nottingham Forest, saying, “Vou fazer gol pra voce hoje.” Or, to put it another way, “I’m going to score for you today.” He accomplished, building on his victory against Olympiacos three days prior in the Europa League.
Employees have now had the opportunity to get to know both the agent and the player, Barry Silkman, who assisted West Ham in acquiring the £51 million player from Lyon in August 2022. Paqueta is described as a devout and family man; he and his spouse recently showed off identical tattoos from Genesis 2:24 that read “one flesh.”
Paqueta’s mind was inevitably swayed by a possible transfer to Manchester City at the beginning of this season. According to sources, Moyes assured the player that he would not obstruct him and asked him to give it his all in the season’s opening match against Bournemouth. A caution that prompted the FA’s investigation and ended that exciting deal was the yellow card Paqueta received in that 1-1 draw.
