Will Lucas Paquetá Sue the FA After Spot-Fixing Clearance?

On Thursday, international news outlets reported that West Ham player Lucas Paqueta was thinking about suing the Football Association after his clearance was linked to spot-fixing.

The media says that the player’s lawyers are currently looking for ways to deal with this situation. In May 2024, the FA said that the Brazilian had intentionally and wrongly gotten arrested in order to impact the betting market.

In July 2025, an unbiased panel found Paqueta not guilty of four counts of accused spot-fixing. The FA’s choice not to hire outside experts in the important area of betting statistics was called into question in written explanations that were made public on Wednesday.

Paqueta’s lawyers are now looking into the situation and considering all of their possibilities, such as suing the FA. The FA began looking into Paqueta in August 2023, nine months before the Brazilian was indicted.

The Brazilian’s £80 million move to Manchester City fell through when the inquiry was made public.

The panel said that both Paqueta and West Ham could choose to forgo their rights and could also oppose or reply to the commission’s findings.

“The commission said they “received considerable sums reaching into the tens of millions of pounds.”

“Both the player and West Ham keep all of their rights in that area.”

The FA agreed that there was no proof that Paqueta had deleted any contacts or texts on purpose.

None of the more than 300 communications that were found and restored had anything to do with repairing spots.