West Ham's Paqueta warned over FA rule breaches

Lucas Paqueta has started all nine of West Ham's Premier League matches so far this season

West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta has been reprimanded and warned about his future conduct - but has not been fined - for his failure to comply with a Football Association investigation into allegations of spot-fixing.

In July, an independent regulatory commission cleared the Brazil playmaker of four charges that he deliberately got booked in four separate matches in 2022 and 2023 "for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market".

However, the 28-year-old was found guilty of two breaches of FA Rule F3; failing to comply with a requirement to answer questions and provide information to the FA's investigation into breaches of the rules.

Paqueta gave "no comment" answers to the majority of questions in two FA interviews during the investigation, both of which took place before he was charged.

In its written reasons for the decision published on Friday, the independent commission said it "accepted that the player was acting on advice at all times but, nevertheless, as a participant he has an obligation to respect and abide by the regulations".

It said the "starting point for sanction was a financial penalty", however, it added that several mitigating factors led it to take the decision not to impose a fine.

Among them was Paqueta's "limited knowledge of English" and it being "fanciful" to expect the player, with no legal training, to do anything other than follow the advice of the leading counsel appointed by his club.

The commission observed that the FA was "apparently not interested in what the player had to say at the second interview when he offered to answer questions arising from the disclosure which had taken place after the first interview".

It added: "In any event, the player provided answers to the matters raised by the FA by his provision of a witness statement on 15 December 2023, thus in reality complying with the request for information. He had previously volunteered the production of his mobile devices for interrogation.

"Significantly, this was all prior to charges being brought and did not ultimately frustrate the investigation. No evidence of prejudice has been advanced by the FA."

Also taken into account were the "weighty" legal fees Paqueta had encountered during the case and the "mental stress" suffered by the player because of the "extremely serious" nature of the allegations against him.

"We recognise that an element of the mental stress suffered by the player included his realisation that, had the [spot-fixing] charges been found proved, his footballing career would almost certainly have come to an end," said the commission.

West Ham are 19th in the Premier League with only one win from their opening nine games.

They play at home against Newcastle United on Sunday (14:00 GMT) and Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo was asked on Friday at his pre-game news conference about the impact of the case on Paqueta.

"It doesn't help," said Nuno. "All the noise, all the situation that he's been through, doesn't help. Finally, it ends, but at the same time comes the rumours [of a move away].

"All these rumours, especially the situation that we are in, doesn't help. I think we have to protect ourselves and try to shield all the noise outside, the rumours of players going out, the transfer window.

"Let's try to ignore all of it so we can work in a better way."