Premiership flop embroiled in football betting scandal after being hit with bombshell alleged corruption charge
The controversy has rocked the game in Australia and an ex Motherwell player as at the heart of it
Former Motherwell player Riku Danzaki is at the centre of a betting scandal.
The Japanese star, who is currently at Western United, has been charged as part of a probe into alleged gambling on A-League matches.
The attacker has been hit with 10 offences relating to accusations of betting corruption in Australian top-flight games in April and May.
It is claimed he received a red or yellow card in games to manipulate the outcome of online betting.
He is one of two men who have been charged as a result of an investigation by detectives from the Sporting Integrity Intelligence United, who worked in conjunction with Football Australia.
The pair have been bailed and are due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on 31st July.
Western United confirmed one of its players has been charged.
A club spokesperson said: 'The club is aware that one Western United player has been charged in relation to an alleged breach of sports betting guidelines.
'We take this matter seriously, condemn any actions that compromise the integrity of the game, and are cooperating fully with the investigation.
'Given the ongoing nature of the investigation, we cannot comment any further.'
Football Australia confirmed its involvement.
'Football Australia takes the integrity of the game very seriously and has worked closely with Victoria Police and the Australian Professional Leagues throughout this investigation,' the governing body stated.
Danzaki had a year at Motherwell but struggled to make an impression in the Premiership and moved to Western United in 2023.
He played just four times in Claret and Amber following his move from Japanese side Sapporo.
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BBC News
26 minutes ago
- BBC News
Cheika using 'instinct' to unite title-hunting Tigers
Golf clubs and smashed mirrors, dog tags and Tigers flags. Michael Cheika has used elaborate, and sometimes wacky, tactics to spur his teams on - but the message has always been simple."I just think people think about things too much," the Leicester Tigers head coach told BBC Sport about the method behind his famous use of imagery to motivate players."And often when you think about things, it stops you from doing it."It was before a Super Rugby final that Cheika presented his New South Wales Waratahs players with personally engraved drivers. His message then was to "have a big swing at it".Then when at the helm of the Australia national team, he issued players with dog tags before the 2015 World Cup to unify them as a battalion. It was in that same tournament that he used a sledgehammer to smash a mirror, external in the changing room before the final to show what he physically demanded of his is a tale behind every bit of the story is at Leicester Tigers as they prepare for Saturday's Premiership semi-final against Sale Sharks, he will not tell."That is something for us," said the relaxed Australian with a broad grin, while leaning on a pitchside railing at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in a pair of retro sliders he picked up in the 1980s."All that stuff is designed to get the team aligned and around certain themes we want to push. And we try do that all year."You just go with instincts on those things. There is no science behind that stuff. You try read the room as best you can. That golf club thing was a last-day decision, it wasn't like it was planned."They might start off like fun or jokes or whatever, but then they can turn into something that is serious or something that is meaningful because they symbolise something. "Those moments we share together as a team, across all teams that I have been involved in, are really important. They are the things that hold you together when you are a man down or you are under the pump." Against Bristol Bear at Ashton Gate in April, a match of must-win proportions for a Tigers side that were outside the play-off spots at the time, Cheika came along with one of his less obscure delivered his team talk with a giant Tigers flag on a pole before they faced a Bristol side that had thumped them months earlier – planting their own flag, if you will, at Welford captain Julian Montoya described Cheika as "one of the best coaches in the world" for the masterful way he man manages his details of how the Australian inspires his players is left in the sanctity of the changing what if that message is beamed live on television? "Maybe we want you to see it. The camera is there," the hooker was also skipper of the Argentina side that Cheika guided to the World Cup semi-finals in said it has been an "amazing" experience to play for the 58-year-old for club and country – and in two different languages."He tried to speak Spanish a lot with Argentina and he did pretty well, but now he is full English so he can express himself even better," Montoya added."He is very passionate, and that's what I like and what I've seen in him here."For me, he is Michael and was the same with me at Argentina. But with the international team, everyone is from Argentina and here at the club there is different nationalities and different cultures."He has been here only for one year and it is very difficult to try know the culture of the team, the organisation, and everything in that time, but I think he has done a brilliant job that's not done yet." Cheika made it clear that he moved to Leicester this season with the sole aim of winning the Premiership meeting with Sale – a side they have shared 142 points with across two league games already this season – will be his home ground he will not be the only one looking to leave with a shot of glory in their sights. Decorated club legends Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, as well as former England full-back Mike Brown, are retiring at the end of the season, while captain Montoya and two-time World Cup-winning South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard are leaving in the summer."Finishing has nothing to do with it," Cheika said. "Being part of a team means what happens to the team is for everybody and not for any one individual. I certainly don't feel like that."When you are in a team, playing in a comp like this, and you are the leader as a coach, your ambition and hunger is to get to the top. The only interest for me is for this team to be successful."
Telegraph
28 minutes ago
- Telegraph
How ruthless Michael Cheika transformed Leicester in less than a season
When casting the final judgment on Leicester's performance across the regular season, the cold, hard facts are inescapable. A second-placed finish, a first home semi-final since the Tigers' last title win in 2022, 15 tries more than last season and the league's joint-top try-scorer. But, as ever with England's biggest club, the devil is in the detail. For as much as this season has been one of rare success for Leicester, it has been one of almost inexplicable wackiness, too. Think back to the sudden departure of previous head coach Dan McKellar and the swift arrival of the acclaimed Australian Michael Cheika; think back to his stadium ban after one match of the Premiership season; a hiding against Bristol at home; a complete implosion away at Toulouse. Add in the saga to find Cheika's replacement as head coach, and a yet-to-be-announced fly-half successor to Handré Pollard, and it has been nothing if not eventful at Oval Park and Mattioli Woods Welford Road. Of course, the Tigers have won nothing yet. And a club of such stature would never admit that anything other than silverware in the cabinet would rank as a success. But when you compare eighth with second, with an attendance of more than 20,000 expected at Welford Road on Saturday, it would be unfair to judge Cheika's sole season in the East Midlands as anything other than triumphant no matter the result against Sale. The Australian, from the pits of panic, has put the club back on the straight and narrow. Cheika targets slipping standards Cheika was announced as the replacement for his compatriot, McKellar, in late June last year after a season in which the Tigers finished eighth in the Premiership table. McKellar had been hamstrung by the lack of an attack coach but his services were dispensed with after Leicester's standards had slipped. According to captain Julián Montoya, it was standards and mentality which Cheika looked to address from the off. 'The relationship he has with the players, how much he cares about it,' says Montoya, who was coached by Cheika during the Australian's stint as Argentina coach between 2022 and 2023. 'His training is unbelievable. He has a lot of experience; the standards he's brought, the mentality he's brought. He is one of the best coaches in the world and we are very lucky to have been coached by him. 'But I couldn't just say one thing. He's a brilliant, world-class coach – and a brilliant guy.' Cheika himself added: 'From the very start, we needed to re-establish the way things were done – from a preparation point of view and, maybe, the expectations, I suppose.' The emphasis on standards and expectations worked, as Leicester won five of their opening six league matches under Cheika, including a dramatic last-play triumph over Exeter on the opening Premiership weekend – a win which also led to the 58-year-old receiving a ban for some verbal wrangling with the independent match-day doctor. Reffell's Winning Try (v Exeter Chiefs) — Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) October 1, 2024 It was all looking tickety-boo for Leicester under Cheika. The Australian had redeveloped a toughness and stubbornness – that indefinable quality of being difficult to beat – in his side that the Tigers had been missing since the days of Steve Borthwick and Richard Wigglesworth. Cheika was trusting his instincts and embracing the potential of youth – Joe Heyes, Jack van Poortvliet, Joe Woodward and Emeka Ilione have all either nailed down starting spots or emerged as Test-class players this season – while the addition of Peter Hewat as attack coach was proving a shrewd acquisition by the Tigers. Leicester's attacking play, at times, has been dashing; and it is no coincidence that Ollie Hassell-Collins finished as joint top try-scorer in the Premiership. But then came two sobering defeats. Bad defeats threaten to derail season The first by Bristol at home, where the Tigers shipped 54 points at Welford Road – and 40 in the first half. Less than a month later came the most chastening of all, as Leicester were obliterated 80-12 by Toulouse in the south of France. Cheika stopped short of describing that match as a turning point in the season, but there was a 'certain reckoning' about it. 'For myself, you cannot go past the Toulouse game,' Cheika said. ''All right, there are some things which I really need to attend to here.' For myself as well – as a coach. That hadn't happened to me before, so I wanted to take something from it. I made some adjustments there but it is a building process along the way, about laying down foundations which will help us when we're under the pump to get us through. 'It felt like it was something which gave me insight into things which I really needed to concentrate on in the short term.' What Cheika concentrated on was defence, with the Australian making an immediate change to his coaching team. Matt Everard, the club's popular former flanker and now head coach of newly rebooted Worcester, was replaced by David Kidwell, who coached the Pumas' defence under Cheika. The move came as a prime example of Cheika identifying something which was not to his liking and, for better or worse, acting ruthlessly to make sure it was. There was also the mid-season arrival of Newcastle flyer Adam Radwan, who has been a revelation since making his Tigers debut in January. Eight tries in eight games 🔥 Adam Radwan cannot stop scoring 💨 #GallagherPrem | #LEIvSAL — Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) May 9, 2025 Ruthless mid-season changes pay-off Cheika's changes led to a reaction from the players. No one – surely not even Cheika himself – saw the 33-0 victory at Northampton at the end of March coming. Then came the most impressive three-match stint of Cheika's tenure to date, as Leicester vanquished Bristol at Ashton Gate – avenging their December shellacking – demolished Harlequins at Welford Road, and overcame a George Ford-inspired Sale in one of the Premiership games of the season so far. There was also the public reveal of Cheika, ever the motivator, ever the savant, using a club flag as a symbolic semaphore to motivate his troops. That @LeicesterTigers mystery flag 🚩 @Sarraelgan does her best but Head Coach Michael Cheika is giving nothing away… 🤔 — Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) April 20, 2025 It worked. Leicester's purple patch meant that, come the final day and the hosting of Newcastle, the Tigers virtually had a home semi-final sewn up with a match to spare. That, allied to the announcement that former lock Geoff Parling will return to the club as head coach next season, and the probable arrival of an international fly-half, and a wave of optimism engulfed Welford Road, after a season in which the Tigers suffered one of their darkest ever on-field days. Despite the turnaround and adulation from fans, Cheika would not entertain any chatter about this season having already been a success or, even, of leaving a legacy at Welford Road. 'One year is not enough to leave any type of legacy whatsoever,' Cheika said. 'The relationships that I've been able to build between players, fans and the club has been respectful and enjoyable. 'I'd like the fans to think that I was one of them – even if it was just for one year. That's not easy because I have been the enemy here before – [from an] international and club point of view. 'The obvious is to try and win that trophy. We have to try and do every thing we can to do that – that's the best thing we can do to build the future of the club. Play well, one step at a time, this weekend – that's it, it's pretty much a final there and then.' Cheika might not believe he has done enough to earn a Leicester legacy, but two matches will be the difference between him either perhaps being proven right, or him having no choice in the matter at all.
Daily Mirror
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
F1 cult hero returns to drive more than 10 years since last appearance
For the first time in their Formula 1 history, Haas are running a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) programme this year and invited an F1 driver of yesteryear to get back behind the wheel More than a decade after he last sat in a Formula 1 cockpit, Kamui Kobayashi has relived the experience by taking part in an official team test. Haas have given the Japanese former F1 star a chance to drive one of their racing machines. It marks the first time Kobayashi has driven an F1 car since he last raced in the World Championship in 2014. That was with minnows Caterham, though he previously also represented Toyota and Sauber having begun his career with the former in 2009. But, on Thursday, the 38-year-old got to relive the experience. He took part in a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) event with Haas, driving the VF-23 car that the American team fielded in the 2023 F1 season. Haas posted photos of Kobayashi behind the wheel in the garage before heading out on track at the Circuit Paul Ricard, near Marseille in the south of France. The test was arranged in partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing, Haas' technical partner since the Japanese carmaker's return to F1 last October. Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox! Though Toyota has not competed in F1 since quitting the sport in 2009, its Gazoo Racing division has been highly successful in other motorsport categories including rallying and endurance competitions. Kobayashi has played a key role in the latter success in recent years, as a two-time winner of the World Endurance Championship and a victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021. His achievements in endurance racing far outstrip what he was ever able to do during his time on the F1 grid. Having represented largely uncompetitive teams, he managed just one podium finish for Sauber at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, his home race, where he finished third by impressively holding off Jenson Button in the faster McLaren. Despite that achievement, Kobayashi lost his place on the grid at the end of that 2012 season. He returned with cash-strapped Caterham in 2014, after a year in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), but they were entirely uncompetitive and folded ahead of the 2015 campaign. Kobayashi returned to WEC in 2016 with Toyota and was immediately competitive. Alongside a range of different team-mates over eight seasons, he has finished outside the top three in the championship only once, when he was fifth in 2017, winning the title twice in 2020 and 2021. Since 2021, he has also been team principal of Toyota Gazoo Racing's WEC programme, alongside his duties as a driver. His F1 test on Thursday was the second run by Haas this year, the first having taken place in Jerez, Spain, in January. Behind the wheel were 2025 F1 drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, as well as Toyota Gazoo Racing development driver and Formula 2 racer Ritomo Miyata. Another TGR figure involved at Haas these days is Ryo Hirakawa, who joined from Alpine as a reserve and has driven for the team in first practice at the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix.
