How mom's conversations in hair salon led to Paqueta's betting case

Conversations in the hairdressing salon owned by the mother of Brazilian soccer player Lucas Paqueta were key to the West Ham forward being accused of spot fixing bets in the Premier League.

Paqueta was ultimately cleared of the charges and on Wednesday a 314-page document was published outlining the details of the case.

A commission found charges by the English Football Association to be unproven after the governing body claimed he had deliberately received yellow cards in four separate matches to affect betting markets.

A central point of the case were conversations held in the salon in Rio owned by Paqueta's mother, Christiane Tolentino, which may have led to a flurry of bets.

"I don't know if anyone I have spoken to might have interpreted my normal conversations about Lucas as indicating that he was more likely to get a yellow card in a given match," she said in a witness statement.

The FA's allegations

The FA claimed 542 bets had been placed by 253 different bettors, alleging at least 27 could be connected to Paqueta from his homeland. It said bets amounting to 46,759 pounds ($62,920) had been placed, resulting in winnings of 213,704 pounds ($287,585) and a profit of 166,945 pounds ($224,660).

The FA said there was an "irresistible inference" that people had been told "directly or indirectly" that Paqueta "indicated he would deliberately seek a caution."

Tolentino bought the salon with money gifted by her son after he joined Italian club AC Milan from Brazilian team Flamengo, the commission said.

She said she would discuss her son in the salon, including his emotional state on occasion.

"It is possible that I might have said something to someone about Lucas' mood being low, or that he was struggling with something as part of these daily conversations. I don't know for sure and I don't remember anything specific, but I would consider that a normal conversation and nothing to do with gambling. It never crossed my mind that this kind of information might have been relied upon by people wanting to bet on my son," she said.

The FA had claimed the 28-year-old Paqueta intentionally sought to be booked in games against Leicester, Aston Villa, Leeds and Bournemouth between November 2022 and August 2023 "in order for one or more persons to profit from betting."

He was cleared in July.

Spot fixing is when elements in a game are deliberately fixed to manipulate betting markets.

Commission says data 'inconsistent with a spot-fix'

In its written reasons, the commission said betting data was not "illustrative of a spot-fix" and "in many respects inconsistent with a spot-fix, but consistent with alternative explanations."

The commission said the FA, itself, accepts its "case relies entirely on circumstantial evidence."

During the hearing, the FA's own legal representative disagreed with the governing body's key witness.

It was not disputed that Paqueta, described as a religious person, "has no interest in betting" and had previously declined the offer of sponsorship from a betting company.

Given his character and the relatively small sums placed on the bets involving him, the commission cast further doubt on the FA's allegations.

"It simply makes no sense for a well-paid individual, who has amply demonstrated his generosity and who appears to have no interest in betting, to 'give his family members or friends' an advantage over bookmakers for comparatively modest sums," it wrote.

The commission said, rather than a spot-fixing operation, a more likely explanation for the betting patterns was the "random passing of 'hot tips' or perceived 'inside information' within Brazil."

It said it found no support for the FA's case regarding Paqueta's on-field conduct when he received yellow cards — and preferred the evidence of witnesses such as former West Ham manager David Moyes.

The FA said it would not appeal the decision.

"The FA is committed to ensuring that the integrity of football is maintained, and full and thorough investigations will always be conducted into serious allegations of rule breaches," it said in a statement.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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