Paquetá can move on from nightmare of spot-fixing case

A challenge on Boubakary Soumaré in 2022 triggered a chain of events that left the forward fighting for his career

- Matt Hughes

Almost a thousand days have passed since Lucas Paquetá was shown a yellow card for a late challenge on Leicester's Boubakary Soumaré in a tame home defeat for West Ham in November 2022, an otherwise inconsequential booking that triggered an extraordinary chain of events that left the Brazilian fighting for his career.

As Paquetá's lawyer noted yesterday, Paquetá has shown more spirit and resilience during his two-year legal battle with the Football Association than his teammates managed that afternoon, although even after being exonerated in the most high-profile corruption case to hit English football since the Bruce Grobbelaar match-fixing trial three decades ago, the West Ham midfielder's victory feels somewhat pyrrhic.

Paquetá has lost an £85m transfer to Manchester City that would have brought him millions and the chance to be part of the club's Premier League title success of 2023-24. This is due to the FA integrity department's decision, after an investigation that began in August 2023, that apparently unusual betting patterns surrounding four yellow cards for the 27-year-old were sufficient to charge him with spot-fixing. West Ham also lost a huge transfer fee, so it is little wonder they are considering legal action against the FA and will certainly push hard for the governing body to cover costs estimated at around £1m for the player and club.