Brazil midfielder Lucas Paquetá will not be cut from the country’s 2024 Copa América squad despite being charged by the English Football Association (FA) with breaches of betting rules while playing for West Ham.
The FA charges state that Paqueta had purposely been booked “for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting.”
The governing body said the breaches relate to three matches from the 2022-23 season, including his first in the Premier League with the east London club, and the opening fixture of the 2023-24 campaign.
However, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said on Thursday it would not axe Paquetá from its squad for the tournament in the United States this summer.
CFB president Ednaldo Rodrigues Gomes wrote in a statement that the FA confirmed it “has not received any provisional suspension order against Lucas Paquetá and therefore there is no impediment to him continuing to play at this time.”
Paquetá has 44 international caps and played in the 2022 World Cup, as well as Copa América in 2019 and 2021.