Stefan Borson: Lucas Paqueta has missed out on ‘life-changing money’ after West Ham deal collapsed
West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta has seen his spot-fixing saga come to a close after a new update has emerged.
Paqueta was cleared of the spot-fixing charges in July after an independent regulatory commission found them to be “not proven” following a hearing earlier this year.
It was confirmed in September the FA wouldn’t appeal the verdict in Paqueta’s case after the written reasons for the commission’s decision were published.
Paqueta has now been warned over his future conduct by an independent regulatory commission after he repeatedly answered with “no comment” in two interviews during the investigation.
However, the FA has been ordered to pay 90 per cent of the Brazil international’s legal costs after losing the case against him.
Lucas Paqueta faced ‘very serious’ allegations
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Paqueta would have missed out on “life-changing money” after his move to Pep Guardiola’s side fell through.
Paqueta was close to joining Man City for £80million in the summer of 2023, but the move collapsed after news emerged of the FA’s investigation.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “Well, I think it’s instructive as to what happens in cases where you go around making big allegations and then fail to approve them effectively.
“So, in those sorts of situations in the outside world, the successful defender of the case would tend to get what’s known as indemnity costs because they’re meant to really discourage people from making very serious allegations that they can’t actually succeed with.
“In the Paqueta case, that’s what’s happened is that he’s ended up with 90 per cent of his costs, which is pretty much what people would define as the top end of indemnity costs. You very rarely get more than that, so that fits with that narrative. It’s a soft way of saying to the FA that they should be penalised for bringing a case and not winning.
“Now, that’s not to criticise them for bringing the case. I don’t think there’s any suggestion that they didn’t have a right to bring the case or in some ways need to bring the case, or that it was brought in bad faith. There’s no suggestion of any of that.”
It has been reported Paqueta and West Ham are considering legal action against the FA for damages over his collapsed move to Man City.
FA punished after Paqueta latest
Borson insisted missing out on a move to Man City was also life changing for Paqueta’s career.
“Clearly, if you make big allegations and then can’t follow through, and by big allegations we’re talking here about life-changing allegations for the player, he would have been banned for a very long time probably to the end of his career, clearly the stress of it has gone on for two years. It cost him a move to City, which was again, I would say life changing, not just in terms of what happened to his career, but also in terms of the money,” said Borson.
“You can see why the FA would pay 90 per cent. He was given a warning, but that’s basically irrelevant. So, it’s just a good indicator what happens if you go around and can’t make out cases that you try and make out that are very serious.”
Paqueta has registered four goals in 12 appearances for West Ham this season.
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