Match fixing scandal rocks Australian football as Macarthur FC captain accused of paying teammates to pick up yellow cards
- Ulises Davila and fellow players Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis arrested over their alleged involvement
- All three players formally charged and granted bail, with Davila scheduled to appear in court on June 24
Australian professional football was rocked on Friday by accusations that the captain of A-League club Macarthur FC paid two younger teammates up to AU$10,000 (HK$52,000) to deliberately receive yellow cards in a scheme set up by a South American gambling connection.
The players identified were Macarthur team leader Ulises Davila and teammates Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis, who were arrested over their alleged involvement in the match-fixing scheme, which police said led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being paid out in winnings.
All three players were formally charged and granted bail on Friday, with Davila scheduled to appear in court on June 24.
Authorities still wanted to interview a fourth player allegedly involved in the scheme, threatening to extradite him if he did not return to New South Wales state to face questioning.
Investigators alleged yellow cards were manipulated during games played on November 24 and December 9. They also alleged unsuccessful attempts were made to do similar during matches on April 20 and May 4.
Macarthur played out a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory on November 24 before beating Sydney FC 2-0 on December 9. All three players were given yellow cards in the December 9 game against Sydney.
