West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta has reportedly been summoned to appear before Brazilian authorities, according to reports.
Our Hammers playmaker, who join the club from Lyon last summer in a club-record deal worth around £50m, has been the subject of a recent investigation regarding betting allegations.
It is understood that a hearing in the UK surrounding the matter was delayed as the players lawyers argued that evidence hasn’t been presented to Paquetas team for review.
Although the player and his team are expected to appear at a hearing soon, according to UOL – as reported by Sport Witness, Paqueta is also the subject of an investigation in his native Brazil.
“According to reports from Brazil, the player has now been ‘summoned’ to explain himself to the local authorities.,” it has been reported.
“UOL writes that Paquetá previously ignored an invite to take part in the CPI on Football Manipulation, and is now forced to go and speak to them.
“A CPI is a temporary commission used by the Brazilian parliament to oversee a specific matter. In this case, as the large increase in betting on Brazilian football has resulted in the involvement of players, a major investigation was opened.
“Since Paquetá obviously lives in London, the West Ham player should be authorised to speak from England on a video call. In case he still doesn’t respond, then he may have to face a coercive summons, with law enforcement agents taking him to questioning. That recently happened to Ronaldinho in a different investigation.
The Brazilian media today reported that the FA rescheduled Paquetá’s statement until next Monday. The West Ham star also escaped from that session once, claiming there was the lack of evidence, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll be able to skip it this time.”
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