Lucas Paqueta yellow cards: What happened in the four bookings which led to West Ham man's spot-fixing charges
Lucas Paqueta’s charges for alleged spot-fixing relate to four separate yellow cards he accrued in the Premier League over the last couple of years.
The West Ham midfielder has been accused by the FA of deliberately getting booked in order to profit from betting schemes, something which he strenuously denies.
Should Paqueta be found guilty, the Brazilian will face a potential life ban at a time when he is a key player for both club and country.
A date of June 3 has been set for him to answer the charges, and he is expected to plead innocent to all claims.
Here, we look at the four incidents which are subject to the investigation.
Yellow card #1
West Ham vs Leicester: November 12, 2022
The first incident occurred in the 60th minute of West Ham’s defeat to Leicester last season.
With the Hammers a goal down, Paqueta chases down Boubakary Soumare and makes a hopeful slide challenge for the ball from behind.
Play goes on after he missed his tackle, which would have been a clear foul in itself, but he leaps up to continue in pursuit of the ball and leaves a late body-check on Dennis Praet.
Referee Jarred Gillett stops play at this point and brandishes the booking, which Paqueta appears to do little to argue with.
Yellow Card #2
West Ham vs Aston Villa: March 12, 2023
The score is tied at 1-1 in the 70th minute of this Premier League game, at which point Villa midfielder John McGinn breaks into the West Ham half to spark an attack.
However, he is quickly scythed down by Paqueta in what appears to be a futile attempt to win the ball on the slide.
The Hammers star is quick to apologise to referee Chris Kavanagh and McGinn, but a booking is the prompt result of his foul.
Yellow Card #3
West Ham vs Leeds: May 21, 2023
Again, this booking comes midway through the second half with Leeds and West Ham level at 1-1 in what turned out to be a 3-1 win for the east Londoners.
A West Ham free-kick is cleared and Whites winger Crysencio Summerville is first to the ball after a Leeds flick-on and has his attempt to counter-attack stopped abruptly by Paqueta’s challenge from the side.
Peter Bankes dishes out a yellow card as Paqueta checks on his floored opponent.
Yellow Card #4
Bournemouth vs West Ham: August 12, 2023
The last card subject to the FA investigation came in stoppage time of West Ham’s opening day draw at Bournemouth earlier this season.
A Hammers goal kick sees Paqueta go up for an aerial challenge and handle the ball, drawing his fourth foul of the game - twice that of any other player on the field.
Referee Bankes brandishes a booking for persistent infringements.
Watch clips of all four incidents via the Sky Sports website.
