Monday saw Ulises Davila appear before the Downing Centre Local Court for his alleged involvement in a betting corruption scheme. Not long after, his now former club, Macarthur FC, announced on social media platforms Facebook and Instagram that Davila would no longer be playing with the club as a mutual agreement had been reached to terminate his contract.
Information regarding Davila’s situation first surfaced in May when he, along with Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis, were arrested and accused of having manipulated yellow card acquisition during matches. It was later revealed that players Matthew Millar and Jed Drew might have also been a part of the group.
Davila, Baccus, and Lewis were all released on bail, and this Monday, the conditions surrounding Davila’s bail were made less strict by Deputy Chief Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis. According to the new terms, Davila must report to the Maroubra police one time per week. This contrasts the former condition under which he was mandated to issue reports on Monday and Friday. Although Baccus faced court in May and was supposed to be present during Monday’s hearing, he was absent this week. Davila and Buccus are scheduled to appear before court again in August, while Lewis’ own hearing will take place on June 27th.
The Players Received Thousands for Engaging in Spot-Fixing
The goal of the operation was to guarantee winnings from sports bets and was supposedly led by someone located in Colombia. Authorities have alleged that the unnamed individual paid Davila to orchestrate how the yellow cards would be acquired and, as the club’s captain, encourage fellow players to join the scheme. This, in turn, ensured that he and the group could enjoy sports betting payouts without the risks typically associated with wagering. According to authorities, Baccus was rewarded $10,000 for his participation, and the same seems to have applied to Lewis.
Two known instances of successful yellow card manipulation occurred last year when Macarthur was up against Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC on November 24th and December 9th, respectively. It has been said that further attempts to control how many cards were issued during games were made in April and May of this year. Neither led to concrete results for the spot-fixing operation, however.
Betting scandals, particularly ones involving sports, have been a global issue this year. In May, English cricket player Brydon Carse was temporarily suspended for betting on sports, while in June, rising MLB star Tucupita Marcano was handed a permanent ban for violations surrounding wagering. Moreover, in Australia, Davila was not the first player whose time with Macarthur FC was cut short over his supposed involvement in spot-fixing. At the beginning of June, the club announced that neither Baccus nor Millar would continue playing for Macarthur after their respective contracts expired.
- Author
Daniel Williams
