Lawyer who keeps beating Premier League hired by West Ham to save Lucas Paqueta from lifetime football ban
WEST HAM have recruited the top lawyer who helped Leicester avoid a points deduction this season for Lucas Paqueta’s fight to avoid a life ban from football.
SunSport has learned that Nick De Marco KC has been appointed by West Ham as part of the club’s attempts to clear Paqueta of four counts of spot-fixing.
De Marco scored a huge win over the Premier League this summer by persuading an independent panel that they had no right to charge Leicester with PSR breaches for the 2022/23 season, as they had been relegated to the Championship by the time they filed their accounts.
Leicester had been charged with a £24.4m breach of spending limits last season, which based on the punishments given to Everton and Nottingham Forest earlier this year would have resulted in the club being docked up to seven points if found guilty.
In a landmark ruling which left Premier League chiefs stunned last month however, an independent appeal board backed Leicester’s argument that the league should not have charged them.
De Marco has a history of big victories over the football authorities with West Ham hoping he can help clear Paqueta.
The 57-year-old barrister famously beat the Premier League in arbitration hearing to push through the Saudi Arabian purchase of Newcastle three years ago, and has helped both Sheffield Wednesday and Derby avoid and reduce points deductions from the EFL over spending breaches.
Paqueta has protested his innocence throughout since the FA began investigating suspicious betting patterns surrounding bookings he received whilst playing for West Ham the summer before last.
Following a nine-month investigation the Brazilian international was charged with counts of spot-fixing last May, with the FA accusing him of being deliberately booked in Premier League games against Leicester, Aston Villa, Leeds and Bournemouth between November 2022 and August 2023.
In addition the 27-year-old was charged with two breaches of FA Rule F3 for refusing to co-operate with their inquiries, which as SunSport revealed yesterday was the result of his decision to get rid of an old mobile phone which FA investigators had already spent eight weeks investigating.
The FOUR games Paqueta has been charged for
LUCAS PAQUETA has been charged by the FA over four specific games...
FIRST INCIDENT – West Ham 0-2 Leicester, 60th minute
The Brazilian was booked for lunging into Leicester’s Boubakary Soumare from behind.
After initially playing the advantage, referee Jarred Gillett eventually pulled it back and brandished the yellow.
SECOND INCIDENT – West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa, 70th minute
Four months later against Aston Villa Paqueta slid into John McGinn inside the centre circle, completely missing the ball and instead catching his legs.
THIRD INCIDENT – West Ham 3-1 Leeds, 65th minute
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign against Leeds at the London Stadium Paqueta tripped Crysencio Summerville from behind.
The foul prevented the visitors from breaking on the counter attack.
FOURTH INCIDENT – Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham, 93rd minute
With just a few minutes remaining on the opening day of the season, Paqueta jumped up for an aerial challenge but instead handled the ball.
The referee, who was standing directly in front of him, was quick to brandish the yellow.
Paqueta has his legal team led by London-based Level Law, but West Ham are supporting him and have moved to engage De Marco, who his regarded as best in class.
SunSport revealed on Sunday that Paqueta’s hearing is expected to take place next March, although a verdict is unlikely to be reached until the summer meaning he will be free to play for the rest of the season.
As previously revealed by SunSport, the FA are pushing for Paqueta to be banned for life, despite the fact that one of the bets placed on him to be booked was worth just £7.
Around sixty people in Brazil placed bets on Paqueta to be booked in the relevant games, with the stakes ranging from just £7 to £400, leading to combined winnings of £100,000.
Paqueta strongly denies any wrongdoing, but the ongoing case has affected his form at West Ham this season.
West Ham and De Marco were approached for comment.