Former A-League star's jail confession in bet scandal
Ex-Macarthur Bulls team captain Ulises Davila, and midfielders Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis have been accused of manipulating yellow cards during matches in 2023 and 2024.
Davila, 33, allegedly acted as the conduit between the southwest Sydney team's players and a Columbian criminal known as 'J Col', organising for the cards to occur during certain games.
Baccus, 33, and Lewis, 27, swapped jerseys for crisp shirts as they faced a Sydney Local Court on Thursday to plead guilty to engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event.
A second charge of participating in a criminal group was withdrawn for both midfielders, who will return to court in September for sentencing.
They agreed they had been paid $10,000 each by Davila to deliberately earn the referee-issued disciplinary cautions for foul play at a match in December 2023.
Davila, the alleged local ringleader of the criminal group behind the betting corruption, has not yet entered pleas to the nine charges against him. He will return to court in August.
According to the facts agreed by his former teammates, the former captain orchestrated the 50 "suspicious" bets placed on the Macarthur FC game against Sydney FC through international wagering platform Betplay.
The wagers were all placed at the same time before the match started, and all involved exactly two bets of equal amounts predicting the same outcome.
During the game at Allianz Stadium, Davila earned the first of the team's four yellow cards for delaying the start of play by kicking the ball away after the referee blew the whistle.
Twenty minutes later, Lewis received the same caution for unsporting behaviour after he pushed a Sydney FC player in the chest and caused him to fall backwards on the ground.
Baccus attracted another rebuke for tackling an opponent to the ground from behind towards the end of the game.
The successful bets resulted in a payout of more than $200,000 and caused the wagering operator a loss of an estimated $167,387, according to the facts.
There is no evidence either Baccus or Lewis had any involvement in placing the bets, but they were both paid $10,000 by Davila after the match.
Lewis was paid in three instalments, but Baccus devised a more elaborate explanation for his payment, telling Davila to describe it as a car payment for a Volkswagen Golf.
"If anyone asks, you (are) buying a car off me," he said in the WhatsApp messages quoted in the facts.
"Yes bro. Whatever you want papi," Davila responded.
After his arrest, Baccus told police the captain had not yet collected the car he sold him while maintaining he only took yellow cards for playing aggressively or in service of the team.
Lewis, meanwhile, was put in a holding cell after his arrest and confessed to the other occupant that he deliberately solicited a yellow card "to earn a little bit of coin".
The conversation was recorded with a surveillance device.
Lewis was recruited to the betting corruption scheme because he was known to be a gambler and thus seen as "influenceable", according to the facts.
All three players were suspended by Macarthur FC after their arrests, and Davila and Baccus have since been released from their contracts.
National Gambling Helpline 1800 858 858
A former A-League player admitted to deliberately earning a yellow card "to earn a little bit of coin" during a covertly recorded conversation in a police cell.
Ex-Macarthur Bulls team captain Ulises Davila, and midfielders Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis have been accused of manipulating yellow cards during matches in 2023 and 2024.
Davila, 33, allegedly acted as the conduit between the southwest Sydney team's players and a Columbian criminal known as 'J Col', organising for the cards to occur during certain games.
Baccus, 33, and Lewis, 27, swapped jerseys for crisp shirts as they faced a Sydney Local Court on Thursday to plead guilty to engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event.
A second charge of participating in a criminal group was withdrawn for both midfielders, who will return to court in September for sentencing.
They agreed they had been paid $10,000 each by Davila to deliberately earn the referee-issued disciplinary cautions for foul play at a match in December 2023.
Davila, the alleged local ringleader of the criminal group behind the betting corruption, has not yet entered pleas to the nine charges against him. He will return to court in August.
According to the facts agreed by his former teammates, the former captain orchestrated the 50 "suspicious" bets placed on the Macarthur FC game against Sydney FC through international wagering platform Betplay.
The wagers were all placed at the same time before the match started, and all involved exactly two bets of equal amounts predicting the same outcome.
During the game at Allianz Stadium, Davila earned the first of the team's four yellow cards for delaying the start of play by kicking the ball away after the referee blew the whistle.
Twenty minutes later, Lewis received the same caution for unsporting behaviour after he pushed a Sydney FC player in the chest and caused him to fall backwards on the ground.
Baccus attracted another rebuke for tackling an opponent to the ground from behind towards the end of the game.
The successful bets resulted in a payout of more than $200,000 and caused the wagering operator a loss of an estimated $167,387, according to the facts.
There is no evidence either Baccus or Lewis had any involvement in placing the bets, but they were both paid $10,000 by Davila after the match.
Lewis was paid in three instalments, but Baccus devised a more elaborate explanation for his payment, telling Davila to describe it as a car payment for a Volkswagen Golf.
"If anyone asks, you (are) buying a car off me," he said in the WhatsApp messages quoted in the facts.
"Yes bro. Whatever you want papi," Davila responded.
After his arrest, Baccus told police the captain had not yet collected the car he sold him while maintaining he only took yellow cards for playing aggressively or in service of the team.
Lewis, meanwhile, was put in a holding cell after his arrest and confessed to the other occupant that he deliberately solicited a yellow card "to earn a little bit of coin".
The conversation was recorded with a surveillance device.
Lewis was recruited to the betting corruption scheme because he was known to be a gambler and thus seen as "influenceable", according to the facts.
All three players were suspended by Macarthur FC after their arrests, and Davila and Baccus have since been released from their contracts.
National Gambling Helpline 1800 858 858
A former A-League player admitted to deliberately earning a yellow card "to earn a little bit of coin" during a covertly recorded conversation in a police cell.
Ex-Macarthur Bulls team captain Ulises Davila, and midfielders Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis have been accused of manipulating yellow cards during matches in 2023 and 2024.
Davila, 33, allegedly acted as the conduit between the southwest Sydney team's players and a Columbian criminal known as 'J Col', organising for the cards to occur during certain games.
Baccus, 33, and Lewis, 27, swapped jerseys for crisp shirts as they faced a Sydney Local Court on Thursday to plead guilty to engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event.
A second charge of participating in a criminal group was withdrawn for both midfielders, who will return to court in September for sentencing.
They agreed they had been paid $10,000 each by Davila to deliberately earn the referee-issued disciplinary cautions for foul play at a match in December 2023.
Davila, the alleged local ringleader of the criminal group behind the betting corruption, has not yet entered pleas to the nine charges against him. He will return to court in August.
According to the facts agreed by his former teammates, the former captain orchestrated the 50 "suspicious" bets placed on the Macarthur FC game against Sydney FC through international wagering platform Betplay.
The wagers were all placed at the same time before the match started, and all involved exactly two bets of equal amounts predicting the same outcome.
During the game at Allianz Stadium, Davila earned the first of the team's four yellow cards for delaying the start of play by kicking the ball away after the referee blew the whistle.
Twenty minutes later, Lewis received the same caution for unsporting behaviour after he pushed a Sydney FC player in the chest and caused him to fall backwards on the ground.
Baccus attracted another rebuke for tackling an opponent to the ground from behind towards the end of the game.
The successful bets resulted in a payout of more than $200,000 and caused the wagering operator a loss of an estimated $167,387, according to the facts.
There is no evidence either Baccus or Lewis had any involvement in placing the bets, but they were both paid $10,000 by Davila after the match.
Lewis was paid in three instalments, but Baccus devised a more elaborate explanation for his payment, telling Davila to describe it as a car payment for a Volkswagen Golf.
"If anyone asks, you (are) buying a car off me," he said in the WhatsApp messages quoted in the facts.
"Yes bro. Whatever you want papi," Davila responded.
After his arrest, Baccus told police the captain had not yet collected the car he sold him while maintaining he only took yellow cards for playing aggressively or in service of the team.
Lewis, meanwhile, was put in a holding cell after his arrest and confessed to the other occupant that he deliberately solicited a yellow card "to earn a little bit of coin".
The conversation was recorded with a surveillance device.
Lewis was recruited to the betting corruption scheme because he was known to be a gambler and thus seen as "influenceable", according to the facts.
All three players were suspended by Macarthur FC after their arrests, and Davila and Baccus have since been released from their contracts.
National Gambling Helpline 1800 858 858
A former A-League player admitted to deliberately earning a yellow card "to earn a little bit of coin" during a covertly recorded conversation in a police cell.
Ex-Macarthur Bulls team captain Ulises Davila, and midfielders Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis have been accused of manipulating yellow cards during matches in 2023 and 2024.
Davila, 33, allegedly acted as the conduit between the southwest Sydney team's players and a Columbian criminal known as 'J Col', organising for the cards to occur during certain games.
Baccus, 33, and Lewis, 27, swapped jerseys for crisp shirts as they faced a Sydney Local Court on Thursday to plead guilty to engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event.
A second charge of participating in a criminal group was withdrawn for both midfielders, who will return to court in September for sentencing.
They agreed they had been paid $10,000 each by Davila to deliberately earn the referee-issued disciplinary cautions for foul play at a match in December 2023.
Davila, the alleged local ringleader of the criminal group behind the betting corruption, has not yet entered pleas to the nine charges against him. He will return to court in August.
According to the facts agreed by his former teammates, the former captain orchestrated the 50 "suspicious" bets placed on the Macarthur FC game against Sydney FC through international wagering platform Betplay.
The wagers were all placed at the same time before the match started, and all involved exactly two bets of equal amounts predicting the same outcome.
During the game at Allianz Stadium, Davila earned the first of the team's four yellow cards for delaying the start of play by kicking the ball away after the referee blew the whistle.
Twenty minutes later, Lewis received the same caution for unsporting behaviour after he pushed a Sydney FC player in the chest and caused him to fall backwards on the ground.
Baccus attracted another rebuke for tackling an opponent to the ground from behind towards the end of the game.
The successful bets resulted in a payout of more than $200,000 and caused the wagering operator a loss of an estimated $167,387, according to the facts.
There is no evidence either Baccus or Lewis had any involvement in placing the bets, but they were both paid $10,000 by Davila after the match.
Lewis was paid in three instalments, but Baccus devised a more elaborate explanation for his payment, telling Davila to describe it as a car payment for a Volkswagen Golf.
"If anyone asks, you (are) buying a car off me," he said in the WhatsApp messages quoted in the facts.
"Yes bro. Whatever you want papi," Davila responded.
After his arrest, Baccus told police the captain had not yet collected the car he sold him while maintaining he only took yellow cards for playing aggressively or in service of the team.
Lewis, meanwhile, was put in a holding cell after his arrest and confessed to the other occupant that he deliberately solicited a yellow card "to earn a little bit of coin".
The conversation was recorded with a surveillance device.
Lewis was recruited to the betting corruption scheme because he was known to be a gambler and thus seen as "influenceable", according to the facts.
All three players were suspended by Macarthur FC after their arrests, and Davila and Baccus have since been released from their contracts.
National Gambling Helpline 1800 858 858
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Talay was confident about Costa's return, but admitted the club could not afford to wait, with the 2025/26 season to begin in October. "There's no date. It's still ongoing at the moment," Talay said on Wednesday. "We're supporting him through this ... but for us at the same time, we're thinking ahead. "If things don't go to plan, we don't need to be sitting on our hands. "We're hoping that we can get him here as soon as possible, but in the background there is some work being done." Costa played 25 matches across competitions in his first season for Sydney FC, overcoming separate hamstring injuries to net four goals and five assists. "We want Douglas back. He's dying to get back," Talay said. "He's following his program that we've given him, but it's still isolated training. We want him to be in a team environment." Costa's compatriot and former Serie A midfielder Leo Sena also faces an uncertain future at the club. Like Costa, Sena is contracted for the upcoming season. The Brazilian midfielder was influential across 31 matches for Sydney FC last year. "He's mentally and physically not in the place we want him to be," Talay said. "He understands that as well. He's still part of the group. "He's still here with the team, but moving forward we'll see how that pans out." Newly signed central defender Marcel Tisserand won't feature in Saturday's Australia Cup quarter-final against Auckland either, ruled out through injury. Tisserand joined Sydney FC on a two-year deal after stints in the Ligue 1, Bundesliga and, most recently, the Saudi Pro League. Talay has also left the door open for Jaiden Kucharski to return after the young striker was forced to leave Western United. United have been stripped of their A-Leagues licence for financial reasons and are unable to register players because of a FIFA ban related to an ongoing dispute with former striker Aleksandar Prijovic. "We will always have Jaiden back," Talay said. "He's one of our boys that have come all the way through the academy." Douglas Costa may not return to the A-League Men, with Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay saying the club is preparing to find a replacement. Former Juventus and Bayern Munich star Costa has not rejoined the club for pre-season and remains in his home country Brazil due to personal reasons. The 34-year-old winger has one more season left on his contract after joining the Sky Blues on a two-year deal in August last year. Talay was confident about Costa's return, but admitted the club could not afford to wait, with the 2025/26 season to begin in October. "There's no date. It's still ongoing at the moment," Talay said on Wednesday. "We're supporting him through this ... but for us at the same time, we're thinking ahead. "If things don't go to plan, we don't need to be sitting on our hands. "We're hoping that we can get him here as soon as possible, but in the background there is some work being done." Costa played 25 matches across competitions in his first season for Sydney FC, overcoming separate hamstring injuries to net four goals and five assists. "We want Douglas back. He's dying to get back," Talay said. "He's following his program that we've given him, but it's still isolated training. We want him to be in a team environment." Costa's compatriot and former Serie A midfielder Leo Sena also faces an uncertain future at the club. Like Costa, Sena is contracted for the upcoming season. The Brazilian midfielder was influential across 31 matches for Sydney FC last year. "He's mentally and physically not in the place we want him to be," Talay said. "He understands that as well. He's still part of the group. "He's still here with the team, but moving forward we'll see how that pans out." Newly signed central defender Marcel Tisserand won't feature in Saturday's Australia Cup quarter-final against Auckland either, ruled out through injury. Tisserand joined Sydney FC on a two-year deal after stints in the Ligue 1, Bundesliga and, most recently, the Saudi Pro League. Talay has also left the door open for Jaiden Kucharski to return after the young striker was forced to leave Western United. United have been stripped of their A-Leagues licence for financial reasons and are unable to register players because of a FIFA ban related to an ongoing dispute with former striker Aleksandar Prijovic. "We will always have Jaiden back," Talay said. "He's one of our boys that have come all the way through the academy."
