West Ham want to take FA to court to stop them banning Lucas Paqueta from football for LIFE over alleged betting scam
WEST HAM want to take the FA to court to stop them banning Lucas Paqueta from football.
SunSport revealed last month that the FA are pushing for a life ban for the Brazil international, who they charged with four counts of spot-fixing in May.
West Ham are backing Paqueta and are considering going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne to prevent the FA hearing the case.
The club are questioning the FA’s jurisdiction as all of the suspicious betting linked to Paqueta took place in Brazil, where there is a higher burden of proof in sports disciplinary cases.
West Ham also argue that it is unreasonable that a player could lose his career in a disciplinary hearing based on the balance of probabilities, the threshold for a guilty verdict in FA cases.
As SunSport revealed last month, the FA’s charges sheet issued to Paqueta in May included a recommendation that he be banned for life, which left West Ham stunned and increased their determination to fight for him.
West Ham could also bring FIFA into a legal challenge at CAS, as they would be asked to make a ban apply worldwide if Paqueta was found guilty by the FA, which in most cases is a formality.
Paqueta has been in Brazil or representing his country at the Copa America since being charged in May, but is due to re-join West Ham in Tampa next week on their pre-season tour of the United States.
The 26-year-old insists he is innocent of all charges and is determined to clear his name.
Paqueta will be available for West Ham for most of the season as the hearing will not take place until next year at the earliest due to the complexity of the case and the difficulty of obtaining evidence from Brazil.
A West Ham appeal to CAS would delay the hearing even further.
West Ham and the FA were approached for comment.
Paqueta joined the Londoners two years ago for an initial club-record £50million from French side Lyon.
He’s since scored 13 goals and laid on a further 14 assists in 84 games.
Last summer saw Paqueta come close to joining Manchester City for £85m before the champs backed out of talks.
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