The Controller: South American crime figure is mystery mastermind behind bets scandal

Police will allege a South American crime figure they dubbed ‘the controller’ is at the top of a sports betting syndicate that threatens to overshadow the A-League’s showpiece grand final next weekend.

Police will allege a South American crime figure they dubbed “the controller” is at the top of a sports betting syndicate that threatens to overshadow the A-League’s showpiece grand final next weekend.

Macarthur FC captain Ulises Davila, it will be alleged, is the senior player charged by police at Mascot police station over claims he was in contact with the shadowy off-shore gambler.

“Between November and May of this year we’re alleging that a senior player within an elite team was in communication with a South American person offshore who we’re referring to as a controller or coordinator,” Organised Crime Squad Commander Superintendent Peter Faux said.

“And that person was requesting that senior member of an A-League team to ensure that certain events occurred within games to permit illegal gambling and those events occurring.”

The scandal has so far seen three players charged, with police seeking to interview a fourth they believe is currently interstate.

They acted early Friday morning, they said, over concerns Davila or the others would flee the country in “the coming days and weeks”.

Police will allege a South American crime figure dubbed “the controller” is at the top of the sports betting syndicate.

From “the controller’s” South American hideout, it will be alleged he was placing bets offshore on Macarthur’s players receiving yellow cards after enlisting former Chelsea midfielder Davila.

Davila’s alleged motivation was not revealed by police speaking to reporters on Friday, who did confirm they believed the Bulls star was not being threatened to get himself booked during two games.

Davila, police allege, then paid $10,000 each to players Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis to deliberately get yellow cards.

All three have been charged with multiple counts of engaging in conduct that corrupts betting outcomes of an event and bailed to front courts around Sydney later this month and in June.

Their probe into “the controller” will now see police scour their betting patterns across the world, and the three players’ professional performances going back years.

Ulises Dávila, Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis have all been charged.

It may now be a laborious task for detectives attempting to unmask the South American leader of the alleged syndicate, who say they used their local vendors and other off-shore bookies to make bets.

“As you can imagine, there’s a lot of data and analysis for us to look into in relation to all games that these people have been involved in and betting around the world where there’s thousands of betting agencies that would bet on this type of event,” Supt Faux said.

Police sources this morning said they were investigating if other Macarthur players were involved, telling reporters one they want to interview is currently interstate.

Police arrested and later charged the A-League players on Friday.

Officers will allege there were “multiple thousands of dollars paid out” as a result of the bets.

It comes after Sydney invited the football world into town for the Women’s World Cup last year, where Sports Integrity Australia and a host of FIFA’s watchdog partners kept a keen eye on wagers made at home and overseas.

The wildly successful global event that attracted millions of viewers, according to a Freedom of Information request by the Saturday Telegraph, flagged no suspicious betting activity throughout the tournament.

Originally published as The Controller: South American crime figure is mystery mastermind behind bets scandal