West Ham: Lucas Paqueta no longer giving evidence in Brazil betting investigation

Lucas Paqueta is no longer required to give evidence to the Brazilian parliament for their inquiry into sports betting.

The West Ham midfielder was originally expected to miss Tuesday’s trip to Leicester as the date clashed with his commitment to give evidence in Sao Paolo to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on the Manipulation of Games and Sports Betting.

His legal team then successfully lobbied for Paqueta to appear remotely via video link and thus be available to play at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night.

Standard Sport now understands Paqueta is no longer summoned before the Brazilian parliament and will not appear in person nor remotely.

In May, Paqueta was charged by the Football Association with alleged breaches of FA Rules E5 and F3 for spot-fixing, allegedly earning deliberate bookings in four Premier League games. He is also under investigation in Brazil but protests his innocence in both countries.

In October, the Brazilian international took to social media, writing: “I have instructed my lawyers to write to the FA to request that they conduct a thorough investigation into how information about the case, even if inaccurate, is finding its way into the public domain.”

Bruno Tolentino, Paqueta’s uncle, appeared before the CPI in late October and is also under investigation in Brazil after admitting to paying ex-Real Betis forward Luiz Henrique £5,000 just days after the player received two suspicious yellow cards, which triggered an investigation in Spain. Both Tolentino and Henrique deny any wrongdoing.

Paqueta’s and Tolentino’s cases were both reported to authorities by Betway, the gambling firm who are also West Ham’s front-of-shirt sponsor.

Paqueta has appeared in all 13 of West Ham’s Premier League matches so far this season.

Standard Sport has approached Paqueta for comment. West Ham declined to comment.