West Ham United news as twist emerges in Lucas Paqueta gambling accusations
West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta has had his gambling hearing delayed by the FA for up to three weeks, according to Sean Whetstone.
The 6foot2 editor tweeted on 21 August that the governing body failed to provide any evidence of any wrongdoing in advance to the Brazil international and his legal team ahead of the hearing that was due to take place on Monday (21 August).
He said it has now been delayed for up to three weeks as the 27-year-old’s lawyers are insisting that they receive evidence before taking part in a hearing after he has been alleged to have broken the FA’s gambling rules.
Long road ahead
This is a matter that is unlikely to go away any time soon as previous cases of alleged gambling that have been brought forward by the FA have shown.
It took the best part of six months for Ivan Toney’s case to come to a conclusion, with the Brentford forward being banned for eight months on 18 May [Sky Sports].
The Daily Mail reported on 21 August that Paqueta was happy to take part in a hearing with the governing body as he believes he hasn’t committed an offence that would result in a ban.
The situation appears to have scuppered the Brazilian’s move to Manchester City this summer after the Premier League champions were keen to sign him.
But the delay to proceedings now means the midfielder is free to play for the Hammers for the next few weeks and he will be looking to do his talking on the field after scoring in our 3-1 victory over Chelsea on Sunday (20 August).
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