Lucas Paqueta’s proposed move to Manchester City from West Ham United has been halted due to a Football Association and FIFA investigation into possible betting breaches, sources have confirmed to 90min.
News that Paqueta’s move to City was stalling emerged on Friday and while it was initially believed that the fee was an issue, 90min confirmed that there were other issues and now the investigation into these bets has emerged as the major stumbling block.
The FA and FIFA are looking at information concerning bets on games involving Paqueta that were placed in Brazil.
Sources close to Paqueta have stressed to 90min that the player has “no idea” about the claims and has been left “shocked” by the whole situation, which could cost him a dream move to treble winners City.
Both West Ham and City are being kept informed about the investigation and whether Paqueta has a case to answer, but it stands he is free to continue playing. West Ham are due to face Chelsea on Sunday.
90min has been told that the deal is not dead just yet but would need a quick resolution if it were to be resurrected.
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The FA are quite clear that no player registered with a club can place a bet on football – a subject that hit the headlines recently with England and Brentford striker Ivan Toney banned for eight months after being found guilty of 232 breaches of the FA rule E8.
Rule E8 prevents those involved in the game betting directly or indirectly on the outcomes of matches, competitions or any other matters related to global football such as transfers, managerial appointments and sackings, team selections and disciplinary matters.
The FA in their guide to betting make it clear what a player can’t do when it comes to gambling and list the following:
• You are not allowed to place any bet on a game involving your club
• You are not allowed to place any bet on a game in a competition (such as cup competitions or the league itself) in which your club plays
• This includes competitions that your club is due to play in but has not yet started and competitions that your club has been knocked out of
• You are not allowed to place a bet on a game or competition in which you have any
influence, either direct or indirect
• You are not allowed to bet on any under 18 match
• You are not allowed to ask or instruct anyone to place any of the bets above on your behalf
• The above includes all bets related to the following:
– the result of a particular match, matches or the competition itself
– any events in the progress of a match or matches (for example, number of red/yellow
cards, corners etc)
– any other events involving your club or other clubs playing in the same league
competition (such as next manager markets).
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