Brazil national team manager Fernando Diniz has revealed he decided to remove West Ham star Lucas Paqueta from his squad for upcoming international matches after news broke of an investigation into alleged betting breaches.
Mail Sport exclusively revealed on Friday that the Brazilian is under investigation by the Football Association amid concerns that the game's gambling rules have been broken.
Now, Diniz has explained he reacted to the announcement about Paqueta's alleged involvement by labelling his decision as a 'question of preservation'.
Brazil's interim head coach had originally included the 25-year-old in his 23-man squad before making the decision to withdraw him in a bid to protect the player.