SYDNEY (AP) — Two former A-League footballers were given what was equivalent to an explosive bond on Wednesday to take 10,000 Australian dollars ($6,600) and deliberately receive a yellow card in a betting scam.
Former Makarther Bulls players Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis will offer a two-year conditional release order, as well as a good bond of conduct after being sentenced in Sydney.
They will need to repay the money they received for getting their yellow card as a fine in December 2023.
The pair were “at the bottom of the scheme,” which was said to have been organized by the then captain. Ulises DavilaJudge Michael Blair said at Sydney’s Central District Court.
Bacchus (age 33) and Lewis, age 27; Plead guilty By engaging in acts that destroy the outcome of the event’s betting, Blair finds that both players will truly regret their actions.
Fees related to the MacArthur Game with Sydney FC on December 9, 2023 were bets on MacArthur to receive at least four yellow cards.
Davila is booked to delay play by kicking the ball, Lewis is warned of pushing his opponent in the chest, and Bacchus earned yellow for poor tackle with Sydney players.
It was a total of over $100,000 when it was allegedly organized by Davila by winning bets payments placed in South America through gambling sites.
Blair discovers that there is no evidence that Lewis and Bacchus have knowledge of the wagers placed on their actions or how much they will be paid.
The magistrate stated that the two were reckless to knowingly obtain the yellow card, but he was not satisfied beyond the reasonable doubt they knew they were corrupting the outcome of their bets.
All three players have been arrested and after Davila and Bacchus are released from contract, they are stopped by MacArthur FC, where Bacchus works as a truck driver.
Davila, accused of acting as a conduit between a MacArthur player and a Colombian criminal known as “J col,” has yet to plead for nine charges against him. He will face the court on Thursday with these charges.
Prior to his arrest, Davila received the Australian League’s Best Player Award from 2020-21.
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