One of the oldest-running sponsorship agreements in the Premier League has come to an end.
West Ham and Betway have parted company after ten years of the betting firm sponsoring the front of the Hammers’ playing shirt.
Although not explicitly given as a reason, insiders claim that the break up has come in the wake of the Lucas Paqueta scandal, in which the Brazilian is alleged to have deliberately got booked in order for friends and family to profit.
Betway reported suspicious betting patterns to the Football Association, with suggestions that relations with West Ham soured thereafter.
That notion has been lent extra weight after it emerged that the London club have signed a one-year deal with BoyleSports ahead of the voluntary ban on gambling sponsorships coming into force in 2026.
Hammers Call Time
Betway first sponsored West Ham back in 2015, pumping an estimated £100 million into the club’s coffers since.
It seemed likely that they would continue as partners until the start of the 2026/27 season, when all gambling sponsorships will be vetoed in the Premier League as part of the voluntary cull.
There’s was one of the most enduring sponsorship deals in the Premier League, but the relationship has ended in the wake of the fallout of Paqueta’s legal battle.
The midfielder has been accused of deliberately picking up a yellow card in four different EPL games, with the Football Association subsequently charging him with four counts of ‘seeking to influence the progress, conduct, or any other aspect of, or occurrence in these matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting.’
The Brazilian also faces two charges of refusing to comply with the FA’s investigation.
The charges relate to games played in 2022 and 2023, with Betway reporting suspicious patterns of bets on Paqueta being booked in said matches – both in terms of betting volume and stake size.
Around 60 bets were placed on him to be booked in the respective games, with stakes of up to £400 placed. Most of those wagers were struck from new accounts at Betway, with some even being traced back to Paqueta Island – the tiny land mass where the player was born and raised.
Betway reported the suspicious wagering to the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), who after conducting investigations of their own passed the case onto the Football Association, who decided to charge Paqueta with six counts of betting fraud and obstruction of evidence.
The 27-year-old has vehemently denied all of the charges throughout his legal case, which has now come to an end. A verdict is expected in July or August.
West Ham revealed back in 2024 that they planned to sever ties with Betway, although that was formalised just this week when the Hammers announced their new deal with Irish firm BoyleSports.
FIFA Club World Cup Star Charged with Betting Fraud
Meanwhile, one of Paqueta’s countrymen has been charged with ‘sports fraud’ over their alleged part in a betting plot… just days ahead of his scheduled appearance at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Bruno Henrique, who plays for Brazilian side Flamengo, has been hit with an indictment by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Federal District and Territories (MPDFT), who claim that he deliberately got booked in a game in order for others to profit from betting.
He’s been charged with sports fraud and embezzlement alongside his brother, sister-in-law and a cousin.
According to the writ, Henrique is alleged to have been purposely cautioned in a Brazilian Serie A contest against Santos back in 2023. It has also been claimed that the player told his brother-in-law that he planned to commit the offence, and that he and other family members should wager accordingly.
The 34-year-old has denied the claims, saying:
“Yes (I am innocent). I didn’t expect it the way it was, but I believe in justice up there.
“The people who are there in this battle with me, I just ask that justice be done and that what’s off the field be separated from what’s on the field.”
It is not known whether Henrique, who joined Flamengo back in 2019, will now play for his side at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, where his side is scheduled to take on Chelsea, Los Angeles FC and Esperance de Tunis in Group D.