Three weeks, we were told, was the expected time put aside for Lucas Paquetá’s FA hearing. The six allegations of taking yellow cards for bets and not assisting with the enquiry have been hanging over the Brazilian’s head for the whole season – and there seems no end in sight.
Reports now suggest that the FA panel will not provide their determination until June, after the 2024-5 season has concluded. A further article this morning in Hammers News suggests the direction of travel, crucially, is going away from the FA who are suddenly keen to compromise: Their article quotes a Hammers source:
“The FA are looking to strike [a] deal. But West Ham won’t accept any suspension, which the FA want. The data guy’s evidence went well I am told.”
Which refers to the statisticians analysis, reportedly referring to hundreds of occasions on which Lucas Paquetá committed similar fouls but did not receive yellow cards.
To my untutored eye, the FA now shifting their stance towards a compromise deal with Paquetá and the club is telling indeed: A month ago the FA were demanding a lifetime ban. Probably they can sense the direction this ‘behind closed doors hearing’ is heading and are of course desperate to get any sort of a guilty verdict to avoid the mega- millions in compensation which could be demanded by both the player and the club should the FA lose.
In the short term, Lucas Paquetá remains free to play for the rest of this season. Behind the scenes, it seems there is an increasing optimism over the likely outcome. But one thing is certain: Whichever way the ‘verdict’ goes, that’ll just be the start, not the end of it.
Lucas Paquetá has always denied all of the FA allegations.
Paqueta must NOT ‘do a deal’ with the FA. Any admission of guilt will be seized upon as justification for this miserable action. The Sub-postmasters were encouraged to plead a little bit guilty of charges of which they were totally innocent. That did not end well. It still hasn’t ended.
Lucas Paqueta is innocent and the outcome will be the case being inconclusive and the player being advised to look to the future. FA will hope to retain some dignity and will insist that the charges and hearings were properly conducted. Each ‘side’ will be responsible for their own costs and it will be mutually agreed that there will be no grounds for any claims for compensation to be considered.
A crying shame and scandal that these charges were brought in the first place and that they have taken so long to resolve.
Football clubs and football players should get together to demand that the FA is reformed with responsible people taking positions within the organisation. Maybe Gary Lineker (I understand he will be free to seek new positions at the end of this season), but certainly not the Sepp Blatter or Gordon Taylor types. Probably not even Sir Gareth Southgate types also.
Free Paqueta !! Paqueta is innocent !!
COYI
If they want a deal they should agree to Paqueta not sueing them and instead of us being bottom of the table for bad decisions resulting in goals against that for 5 years we will be treated like Man Ure with around 20goals advantage per season due to dodgy officiating. The whole thing is rigged every season so would be nice to have it rigged in our favour.
The FA desperate for a compromise guilty plea in order to avoid being sued is in fact corruption of justice of the highest order . Paqueta and Westham must be prepared to execute legal action against the FA in order to permanently sever the cancer that riddles the organization . An investigation into who has bought and paid for the FA now needs to take place in order to prosecute them .
I hope Paqueta does not accept compromises from the FA. If he is found not guilty I reckon he should take the FA for all they’ve got. They have made his life miserable and our club has lost a big money sale to City and then the player’s form within the team. So West Ham should seek compo too. Good luck to you Lucas Paqueta!
Sounds promising and of course very tempting to want to take the FA to the cleaners. But would a deal mean that the player would then be able to secure a big money move in the summer to the benefit of him and the club.
Big money move? No. A deal would be an admission of guilt and then the FA will be back for more. Guilty should mean a lifetime ban. That is where this would go if Paqueta was to deal.
It would make more sense to ban betting firms to offer odds on such silly events – it is not about adding interest to the sport – it is about betting firms taking as much money as they can.
FA should be pressing for gambling to be outlawed. That would be a worthwhile action.
Agreed
You’re most probably right in your summary and the longer it’s gone on the lack of any real evidence from not only the Brazilian FA but also the FA here they’ve not even had a strong case for proving the balance of probability he is guilty so it’s now damage limitation on there part. Player and club have every right to seek compensation for this charade taking so long to be concluded. Hopefully, he’ll have a memorable game this afternoon and scores the winner!
Once Betway had reported it, presumably due to AI, I guess the process had to kick in. But the bets are mostly very small, and on a player who picks up quite a few bookings.The last of the charges was daft. The player asked not to feature in the game and then visibly wanted to be subbed before the alleged offence took place. If the FA find Paqman either guilty or innocent, they will probably face legal action either way and are worried. Otherwise they would not be seeking a deal. It’s looking good for the player, and for our club. I suspect we could see a deal offered whereby Paqueta is found not guilty and agrees not to seek compensation, or receives limited financial recompense.