Sydney, May 17: Australian professional soccer was rocked Friday by accusations that the captain of A-League club Macarthur FC paid two younger teammates up to 10,000 Australian dollars ($6,600) to deliberately receive yellow cards in a scheme set up by a South American gambling connection. (More Football News)
The player were identified Macarthur team leader Ulises D✨avila and fellow players Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis as the players arrested over their alleged involvement in the match-fixing scheme, which police say led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being paid out in winnings.
All three players were formally charged and granted bail on Friday afternoon,💃 with Davila scheduled to appear in court on June 24. Authorities still want to interview a fourth player all🌊egedly involved in the scheme, threatening to extradite him if he does not return to New South Wales state to face questioning.
Investigators allege yellow cards♛ were manipulated during games played on Nov. 24 and Dec. 9. They also allege unsuccessful attempts were made to do similar during matches on April 20 and May 4.
Macarthur pl🌳ayed out a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory on Nov. 24 before beating Sydney FC 2-0 on Dec. 9. All💜 three players were given yellow cards in the Dec. 9 game against Sydney.
The team beat Sydn🌊ey 1-0 on April 20 before being beaten 4-0 by Sydney FC in a playoff elimination game on May 4. Macarthur finished in fifth place duringℱ the regular season.
Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said the players had “betrayed the trust of 🐻their supporters and the code."
“Yellow cards and the subsequent penalties that arise out of those yellow cards could change the result of that game,” he said a media conference Friday. ”$10,000 may seem a 💎lot of money to a young sports person, (but) that is incredibly insignificant when you consider the damage that being charged witℱh this offense and convicted results in.”
The southwest Sydney club said it was “shocked” by the allegations, which came after a six💝-month police investigation🥂.
St🔯ate police said the probe was launched in December 2023 with the help of Britain-based officials after suspicious betting patterns were identified.
Macarthur FC chief executive💫 Sam Krslovic said the club was caught off-guard by the arrests but it would work with authorities, adding: "Integrity of our game is a foundation pillar and we will work closely with all relevant agencies on this matter.”
Australian Associated Press reported that Davila was arrested on Friday at South Coogee, in Sydney's east, when police 𓄧eꦬxecuted a search warrant as part of the investigation. Lewis was arrested in Parramatta and Baccus was arrested in Campbelltown, both western Sydney suburbs.
Davila was expected to be charg🦄ed with two counts of engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event and two counts of facilitating condu😼ct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event. The other two players will be charged with engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event.
Football Australi👍a said it was made aware of the arrests on Friday morning and was cooperating w🃏ith the investigation.
Macarthur FC has been in the A-League men's competit༺ion since the 2020-21 season. The league has 11 clubs based in Australia and one in New Zealand, with this season's grand final championship match scheduled for May 25. (AP)
