Brazil midfielder Lucas Paquetá will not be cut from the country's 2024 Copa América squad despite being charged by the English Football Association (FA) with breaches of betting rules while playing for West Ham.
The FA charges state that Paqueta had purposely been booked "for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting."
The governing body said the breaches relate to three matches from the 2022-23 season, including his first in the Premier League with the east London club, and the opening fixture of the 2023-24 campaign.
However, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said on Thursday it would not axe Paquetá from its squad for the tournament in the United States this summer.
"Given the facts reported by the English Federation, the CBF, supported by the joint opinion from the Legal and Governance and Compliance Directorates and the Integrity Unit, has decided to maintain the player's call-up," the CBF said in a statement signed by president Ednaldo Rodrigues.
Paquetá has 44 international caps and played in the 2022 World Cup, as well as Copa América in 2019 and 2021.
"Based on the information provided by the FA, it is categorically concluded that the player Lucas Paqueta, despite the behaviour for which he was accused authorising preventive removal (from the squad) ... has not been penalised to date by the prosecuting body authorised to sanction him," the CBF added.
"It is right to say that the player is free to perform his professional job until the present moment, the source of his livelihood and that of his family, in a full and unrestricted manner, whether for his club or his country's national team."
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.