Top three Australian footballers arrested in betting scandal

The top three Australian footballers from the A-League, including Ulises Davila, Kearyn Baccus, and Clayton Lewis, have been arrested in a betting scandal. Betting scandal refers to deliberately committing mistakes to receive penalties.

New South Wales Police (NSWP) have charged them with accepting corrupt payments from an organized criminal figure to manipulate games.

According to NSWP, a senior player, Ulises planned for his teammates Kearyn and Clayton to receive yellow cards and give away penalties during the games. A player receives a yellow card in football when he commits an offense.

NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald told media reporters that the Ulises was acting under the instruction and direction of an organized crime figure cureenly offshore in South America.

However, the police revealed Ulises paid Kearyn and Clayton up to $6,000 to receive yellow cards. Ulises is captain of A-League club Macarthur FC. Michael said they allege that the top three arrested Australian footballers intentionally gave out yellow cards to get corrupt payment.

According to Michael, all sports fans understand even one penalty can change the game flow and momentum. Australian police had linked yellow cards to the alleged corrupt payments.

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They claimed yellow cards could change the result of the game. They have also taken a 33-year-old man into custody with the help of the British Gambling Commission in this aspect.

NSWP intends to charge the suspected man with conduct that corrupts a betting result. Local Australian media have named arrested players as members of Macarthur FC club, which was the worst team in the 12-team A-league in 2022-2023.

However, the police have granted bail to arrested players after charging and arresting them. The main suspect, Ulises Davila, has to appear in court on June 24, 2024.