Lucas Paqueta hearing could be months away as West Ham United saga drags on
Lucas Paqueta and West Ham United could be forced to wait “several months” before a hearing for his betting charges is arranged, according to The Sun.
Writing on their website (4 June), the news outlet report that the player’s lawyers have been granted more time to formally respond to the spot-fixing charges brought against him, with the case not expected to proceed to a hearing for “several months”.
The FA hope to ban the 26-year-old for life should he be found guilty of the charges, but after Ivan Toney’s case took over six months to elapse with far less serious charges, it’s expected that this could take even longer.
The FA are still in the process of collecting data from Brazil but there are “issues of jurisdiction to resolve”, while Paqueta has been left “devastated” and the club having “serious concerns” over his mental well-being following the charges.
West Ham United may get grace period to plan for life without Paqueta
While the club will be totally behind Paqueta, and the Brazilian firmly denies all charges brought against him, West Ham would be silly not to be putting plans in place just in case.
Should he be banned for a lengthy period then the Hammers would need to find a way to replace him without a large chunk of money coming into the club as a result of his exit, and many expected that to have to happen this summer
But if a case isn’t going to be heard for more than six months, then the club can continue to use him just like Brentford did with Toney.
It would allow the club to scout for potential replacements and find a way to negotiate a price to bring them in, so that if Paqueta is found guilty they’re not left short.
It’s going to be a difficult period for all involved, but it seems like it’s going to drag on for a very long time after initially coming to the surface a year ago anyway.
In other West Ham news, the club are close to sealing a £20m transfer after a fresh twist emerged.
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