EXCLUSIVE: West Ham's own sponsor Betway reported suspicious activity that prompted FA probe into Lucas Paqueta after spike in bets from near Rio de Janeiro on him to be booked against Aston Villa in March The Brazilian midfielder is being investigated by the FA for potential breaches Paqueta denied placing bets on football himself , as accounts traced to homeland WATCH: 'It's All Kicking Off' - Episode 1 - Mail Sport's brand new football show By Matt Hughes and Kieran Gill for The Mail on Sunday Published: 21:56, 19 August 2023 | Updated: 22:45, 19 August 2023 e-mail 16 shares 5 View comments West Ham's shirt sponsor Betway were responsible for reporting the suspicious betting patterns that caused the collapse of Lucas Paqueta's proposed £85million transfer to Manchester City this week amidst a corruption probe. Mail Sport has learned that Betway's integrity alert system was triggered by a series of bets they received on the Brazilian midfield player to be booked in West Ham's Premier League match against Aston Villa on 12 March, which they immediately reported to the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), a global group of hundreds of bookmakers responsible for policing corruption in the gambling industry. Paqueta was shown a yellow card with 14 minutes remaining of the 1-1 draw at the London Stadium, leaving Betway liable to pay out the winning bets. After receiving the integrity alert the IBIA reported the matter to FIFA who then passed it on the FA, who have begun their own investigation. The suspicious bets in question are understood to been traced to Paqueta Island in Guanabara Bay, near Rio de Janeiro, which is where Paqueta grew up. Whilst their main offices are in London, Malta, Guernsey and Cape Town, Betway have a market presence in Brazil, where they take a large number of bets on football and Esports in particular. Although the precise figures remain unknown the volume of money staked on Paqueta to be booked against Aston Villa appears to have been significant as his price to receive a yellow card had collapsed to odds-on before kick-off, despite the fact that he had only been booked three times previously by that stage of the season. The 25-year-old was subsequently booked by Chris Kavanagh for a late challenge on John McGinn, the only booking of the game. West Ham's shirt sponsor Betway reported the suspicious betting patterns that prompted an investigation into Lucas Paqueta A flurry of bets were placed on Paqueta getting a yellow card when West Ham played Aston Villa in March this year Betway's involvement in reporting the bets may be a source of embarrassment at West Ham and the Premier League, who last season introduced a voluntary ban on gambling sponsorship on the front of shirts that will begin at the start of the 2026/27 campaign. The online gambling company have sponsored West Ham since 2015 in one of the biggest shirt deals in the Premier League outside the Big Six that is due to come to an end in 2025. The £10million-a-year deal has not been without controversy however, with Betway fined £400,000 by the Gambling Commission last season for inadvertently advertising their products on the Young Hammers page of the club's website in a breach of industry rules. Betway were also fined £11.6m in March for failing to carry out sufficient affordability checks on their so-called VIP customers who often gamble heavily, although that was not related to West Ham. Paqueta has yet to be interviewed by disciplinary chiefs, but is understood to deny any wrongdoing, and expected to start against Chelsea tomorrow afternoon. Betway and West Ham declined to comment when contacted by Mail Sport. Your browser does not support iframes. Share or comment on this article: EXCLUSIVE: West Ham's own sponsor Betway reported suspicious activity that prompted FA probe into Lucas Paqueta after spike in bets from near Rio de Janeiro on him to be booked against Aston Villa in March e-mail 16 shares Add comment Comments 5 Share what you think Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all The comments below have been moderated in advance. View all The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. 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