A new date has not yet been set to hear the testimony of the football player who must also appear before the English authorities.
Brazil.- The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on Sports Betting and Game Manipulation will have to wait longer to hear from Lucas Paquetá. The statement of the West Ham player and the Brazilian national team was postponed for the second time and there is still no date for his hearing. The athlete's lawyers informed that the football player's participation in the commission this week would be unfeasible. The reason has not been officially confirmed, although one version suggests that the football player was focused on the match that his team will play for a new round of the Premier League.
Initially, the player was to be heard by the senators last October 30. A first request for postponement was presented by the athlete's lawyers and denied by the CPI. Subsequently, a second request was accepted. On that occasion, it was argued that Paquetá was focused on preparing his defense for the Football Association (FA), scheduled for March 2025.
The statement before the CPI was then moved to December 3. However, on the eve of the date, the athlete's name was not on the CPI's agenda. Yesterday, Gesilea Fonseca Teles, superintendent of Anatel, and Renato Meirelles, president of the Locomotiva Institute, responsible for the betting market investigation, appeared before the investigation body. However, the athlete again did not make a statement and there is still no defined date for this to happen.
In October, Paquetá published a note regarding the accusations against him. "I feel frustrated and upset for having recently read misleading and inaccurate press articles published in England and Brazil that claim to reveal information about my case. Some of them are false and seem designed to undermine my position," reads part of the text of the post on social networks.
"I continue to deny the accusations against me and am eager to prove my innocence," he added at that time.
See also: The president of the CPI on Sports Betting and Game Manipulation defends that Paquetá be removed from the Brazilian national team
For today's CPI meeting, there is only one name on the agenda, that of Reginaldo Gomes, president of the Sociedade Deportiva Belford Roxo, a club in the Serie B1 of the Campeonato Carioca.
The club was mentioned in an investigation by the Civil Police of Rio for match manipulation. The match that prompted the investigation took place in June, against Nova Cidade. At that time, there was a large volume of bets on the match, made in Asia, seeking the victory of Nova Cidade in the first half and of Belford Roxo in the match. At halftime, Nova Cidade was winning 3-1. The match, however, ended 5-3 for Belford Roxo.
