By Sally Rawsthorne and Vince Rugari
A fourth A-League player who featured prominently in police interviews with the three men charged over the alleged betting corruption scandal that rocked the Australian sporting world on Friday is expected to be charged when he returns to New South Wales.
Macarthur FC players Ulises Davila, Kearyn Baccus, and Clayton Lewis were picked up by organised crime detectives on Friday, suspected of deliberately conceding yellow cards to manipulate offshore betting markets.
Macarthur FC players Kearyn Baccus, Ulises Davila and Clayton Lewis.Credit: Getty/AAP
The team’s captain, Davila, and the other two men were charged with engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome and granted police bail to appear in local court next month.
All three men flagged a fourth alleged participant in the scheme that police say was directed by a South American-based crime boss.
The 27-year-old, who The Sun-Herald has chosen not to name, was on Saturday interstate. No warrant has been issued for his arrest, but police sources not authorised to speak publicly said a fourth man featured prominently in Friday’s police interviews.
The arrests came four months after police were alerted by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission to betting abnormalities on Macarthur FC yellow cards and formed Strike Force Beaconview.
By then, police allege the conspiracy had already been successful on two occasions – during a match against Melbourne Victory on November 24 and a fixture against Sydney FC on December 9.
In the latter game, the five yellow cards distributed by the referee to Macarthur FC players for foul play exceeded the over-and-under line of 3.5 set by markets in South America. A total of three would have fallen short of being successful, but once four cards were awarded, the bet came off, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were paid out as a result, mostly in South America, according to police.
Meanwhile, the A-League player’s union has criticised NSW Police for heavy-handed behaviour during dawn raids of Davila, Baccus and Lewis’ homes on Friday morning. In footage released of their arrests, officers are shown banging loudly on the players’ doors and shouting upon entry.
Macarthur FC player Kearyn Baccus at Campbelltown police station.Credit: Oscar Colman
“It appeared disproportionate and would have resulted in significant distress, particularly for the family members of the players who were home at the time,” said Beau Busch, co-chief executive of Professional Footballers Australia.
Busch said the players were being supported by the “full resources” of the PFA.
Football Australia runs education programs for A-League players on match integrity, but since COVID, those programs have taken place via an online webinar instead of in person. Players are also educated on match-fixing, betting and reporting in the PFA’s induction for first-year players.
“Public confidence in the integrity of sporting events is critical,” said Busch.
“Football globally has long been challenged by corruption and continues to have an uneasy relationship with gambling. As such the burden for failures should not sit solely at the feet of the players.
“It is, however, vital that all parties have trust in the preventative measures in place and that there is no disconnect between what sport says and does.
“Despite the Federal Government’s Wood Review and a growing body of research highlighting the critical role of proactive and effective education, alongside strong whistle-blower protections, football continues to focus on regulations and sanctioning almost exclusively as the key deterrents, despite their obvious limitations.
“We need to move beyond an approach focused solely on punitive measures and reconcile professional sport’s relationship with gambling if we are to develop an effective and proportionate response.”