'An obvious flaw' FA criticised over errors in Paquetá spot-fixing case

The Football Association has been criticised strongly by the regulatory commission that cleared Lucas Paquetá of spot-fixing charges, over its failure to provide an independent assessment of the betting data on the West Ham player receiving yellow cards.

- Matt Hughes

A 314-page report by the commission that heard Paquetá's case was published yesterday and makes damning reading for the FA, with its evidence criticised for containing "an obvious flaw, namely the lack of an independent assessment of the data".

Nick De Marco KC, who represented Paquetá, wrote on X that the report was "understood to be the longest sports-related judgment ever issued in the world, a reflection of how serious the case was, and the amount of evidence deployed in the biggest case in the FA's history".

The FA charged Paquetá with four counts of spot-fixing in May 2024 after a 10-month investigation into bookings he received in four Premier League matches. Its case centred on connections between the Brazilian and 27 of the 253 individuals who placed apparently suspicious bets on him to be booked in one or more of the four games, with combined bets of £47,000 bringing a profit of £167,000.