Target of investigations for alleged involvement in betting in England, where he plays for West Ham in the first division of the English Championship, Lucas Paquetá has had a turnaround in his career in recent days: in addition to being cut from the last squad of the Brazilian National Team, the rival Manchester City reportedly withdrew from an offer of around £70 million to sign him after the controversy, according to information from the Daily Mirror.
The athlete's testimony to the Football Association (FA) was scheduled for this past Monday (21st), but was postponed. A new date is not yet foreseen for Lucas Paquetá to formally present himself to the English football federation, however, the entity's inspection history is rigid, having taken investigations of other Premier League players to the forefront.
It is worth remembering, however, that the origins of the bets are on Paquetá Island, in Rio de Janeiro, where the athlete was born, using the Betway website. So, even if the match took place in the United Kingdom, would there be a possibility for the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) to contribute to the investigations against Lucas Paquetá, together with the CPI of Football Manipulation?
According to Filipe Senna, a partner at Jantalia Advogados and a specialist in Gaming Law, in the case of the CPI on manipulation of results in sports competitions for betting purposes that is being processed before Congress, there is indeed the possibility of hearing the player in in relation to the alleged manipulation of results in order to obtain information and better quality in the design of the legislation that intends to consolidate itself in Brazil.
“As a rule, it is not necessary for the CPI or the CBF to participate in the investigation of any manipulation of results, as they took place in another jurisdiction, in another country, in an international sports competition,” explains Senna.
The maximum that the CPI or the Brazilian public authorities could contribute, according to the specialist, is with the records of financial movements and possible accesses to the internet on the island of Paquetá, where the suspicious bets came from. “But, as a rule, all investigations and all judgments take place within the scope of the Football Association and FIFA itself,” he ponders.
Consequences for Betway?
If the manipulation of results and sports statistics in this case of the athlete Lucas Paquetá is verified, there are no direct implications for Betway, the sports betting operator where the suspicion of movement in the game that the athlete would have acted arose, with the application of a yellow card by the referee. This is because, on the part of the company, all the rules and normative determinations related to the information and the disclosure of alleged manipulation of results were complied with so that they are investigated by the competent bodies in England.
“If this manipulation is proven, Betway has fulfilled its role of informing and disclosing these alleged manipulations to the competent bodies. There is only a need for it to comply with the rules and laws relating to the integrity of sport, preservation of sports competitions and mitigation of the manipulation of these competitions,” evaluates Senna.
It is also worth mentioning that Betway ends up being a victim of match fixing, and not the boss, as many people believe it to be. As the lawyer explains, it is common for these companies to define a budget plan for each sports-themed event offered on the site, with the average receipt amounts and the average payment amounts based on a statistical analysis.
“When there is verified manipulation of results, this budget planning perishes because there is a very large difference between the amounts ported and the amounts effectively paid in a game called 'prorated', in which the amounts spent by bettors are often used to pay the other winning bettors. Therefore, Betway ends up being a victim, not a principal, in the manipulation of results, whatever that may be,” concludes the lawyer.
Source: GMB
