West Ham star Lucas Paqueta is still waiting to hear the outcome of his spot-fixing case after a new twist has emerged.
The 27-year-old is accused of picking up four bookings for the purpose of financial gain after being charged by the FA in May 2024.
The Brazil international picked up the yellow cards for West Ham in games against Leicester City, Aston Villa, Leeds United and Bournemouth between November 2022 and August 2023.
The midfielder continues to play for the club more than two years after the alleged offences took place.
The hearing started on 17 March, but it was adjourned on 4 April after the independent panel overseeing the case were unable to conclude proceedings in the initial three-week time slot.
It is understood the case will not start again until June, ensuring Paqueta will be able to play for the remainder of this season.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider it’s “unusual” for a case to be adjourned for two months.
The FA are seeking a lifetime ban for Paqueta after handing out the charges almost a year ago.
The Brazilian has continuously denied any wrongdoing, having admitted he was “extremely surprised and upset” by the allegations.
Lucas Paqueta to appeal guilty verdict
Borson insisted Paqueta will appeal the verdict if he is eventually found guilty.
He told Football Insider: “I’m not totally sure what the reason is for the adjournment.
“It’s quite unusual for it to have an adjournment of two months.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen anything that’s explained why there’s the adjournment, so it could be that they’re waiting for some particular expert report.
“It could be that they’ve split the hearing in two for there to be a decision about liability, and the actual adjournment is that they’ll come back for a sanction hearing in the summer if liability is established.
“If I had to guess, and it is completely a guess because I haven’t been able to see any information to explain it, I suspect that the adjournment is basically because they will now decide whether there’s liability and whether he’s done it and then they will come back for a sanction hearing where anything that the player wants to put in mitigation or anything that the FA wants to put in aggravation to the charges will be put in and then the decision will be made in respect of the ban.
“Then after that, if he gets a very serious ban, I think there’s no question he will appeal, and then it will take a little bit more time before that’s established.
“The stakes are very high, so he may well be fighting for his entire career.
“You would imagine that he won’t stop appealing until every avenue has gone because it’s his entire career that’s at stake.”
| Appearances | 31 |
| Goals | 5 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Yellow Cards | 8 |
West Ham planning squad overhaul as 10 exits on the cards
Football Insider revealed on 6 April West Ham are planning a squad overhaul in the summer, with 10 senior stars potentially leaving the club.
Among those earmarked for potential sales are Guido Rodriguez, Niclas Fullkrug, Emerson Palmieri, Maxwel Cornet and Michail Antonio, who are all seen as surplus to requirements.
Danny Ings, Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell and Lukasz Fabianski are likely to depart upon the expiry of their contracts, while Carlos Soler will return to PSG.
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The post Stefan Borson stunned after Lucas Paqueta legal twist appeared first on Football Insider.
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