Lucas Paqueta ban: West Ham twist emerges amid new verdict update
West Ham United and Lucas Paqueta have been waiting on the verdict of his spot-fixing case after a three-week hearing.
Paqueta is facing the prospect of being handed a lifetime ban from football after being embroiled in a legal battle with the FA over a booking controversy.
The West Ham attacker is accused of deliberately getting himself booked on four separate occasions between November 2022 and August 2023 to influence betting markets.
With a three-week hearing starting in March, the Irons feared they would face defeat in Paqueta’s battle with the FA despite the player maintaining he is innocent.
Paqueta spot-fixing verdict emerges
In a latest update, it has emerged that the verdict of Paqueta’s betting case has been adjourned until the summer in the wake of the hearing.
Alex Crook of talkSPORT reported via his personal X handle on Monday (7 April) that the Brazil international is now free to play for West Ham until the end of the season.
| Matches | Starts | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Shots per Game | Pass Success % |
| 27 | 23 | 1993′ | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1.4 | 78 |
The 27-year-old, meanwhile, denies any wrongdoing and is confident that he will be proven innocent.
Lucas Paqueta spot-fixing verdict adjourned until the summer following initial three-week hearing. Means he is free to play for the rest of the season. He protests innocence and remains confident he will be cleared of any wrongdoing. More on https://t.co/ZRTBbujvc8
— Alex Crook ⚽️🎙 (@alex_crook) April 7, 2025
West Ham remain hopeful in Paqueta case
Paqueta found himself in hot water after the FA launched an investigation after he received a yellow card in the 93rd minute of West Ham’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Bournemouth on 12 August 2023.
The handball incident led to a three-week hearing in March, with a punishment as severe as a lifetime ban from football under consideration.
West Ham have been fearing the worst for the former Flamengo ace despite him insisting that he is innocent.
However, it then emerged that David Moyes would testify in Paqueta’s favour, boosting the player’s chances of being cleared of any wrongdoing.
Paqueta’s defence is that he had asked the Scot, who was West Ham’s manager at the time, not to play against Bournemouth to avoid jeopardising a transfer to Manchester City.
Moyes had instead agreed to substitute him off early if West Ham could put themselves in a winning position.
Therefore, Paqueta’s argument is that he could not have been part of a betting conspiracy when he was not expecting to be on the pitch in the first place.