- Davila, 34, will be sentenced on February 18
- Three other A-League stars banned by FA
Disgraced A-League star Ulises Davila will be sentenced for corrupt conduct next year after bail was continued in Sydney‘s Downing Centre on December 19.
Davila, 34, is facing serious charges, including facilitating and engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event, for which he pleaded guilty to earlier this year.
Daily Mail can exclusively reveal the former Macarthur Bulls captain – who previously signed for Chelsea – will be sentenced on February 18.
The attacking midfielder was accused of being the ringleader of a betting scam which saw him and two Macarthur Bulls teammates – Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus – deliberately earn yellow cards to satisfy a betting outcome.
The charges related to six fixtures across the 2023 and 2024 A-League seasons.
Bets were placed on Macarthur players receiving at least four cards during the games, according to facts agreed to by Davila’s teammates in court.
Disgraced A-League star Ulises Davila will be sentenced for corrupt conduct next year after bail was continued in Sydney’s Downing Centre on December 19
Daily Mail can reveal the former Macarthur Bulls captain – who signed for Chelsea in 2011 – will be sentenced on February 18
Winning payouts for the bets placed through gambling site Betplay totalled more than $200,000.
Davila paid Lewis and Baccus $10,000 each for their roles in the betting scam, the ex-teammates said.
Both Lewis and Baccus were handed good-behaviour bonds and escaped conviction in September, with the magistrate finding the pair were ‘right at the bottom of the scheme’.
Lewis and Baccus emphasised they had become involved at the behest of Davila, who they claimed was ‘not only the captain of the team, but the captain of the scheme’.
All three players were suspended by Macarthur FC after their arrests and are no longer contracted to the A-League club.
Ahead of Davila’s sentencing next year, Football Australia confirmed they have banned Lewis and Baccus for at least four years over the spot-fixing offences.
Lewis and Baccus were given five-year bans backdated to 17 May 2024, when they were both issued no-fault interim suspensions by FA.
Those bans will be cut by a year by completing community service.
With Davila’s sentencing next year, Football Australia confirmed ex-Macarthur players Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus (pictured) have been banned for at least four years over the spot-fixing offences
Their respective suspensions – which are backdated – should finish in May 2028, when former New Zealand international Lewis (pictured) will be 31 and Baccus will be 36
Former Western United player Riku Danzaki was rubbed out for seven years by Football Australia after he deliberately received a series of yellow cards in a separate spot-fixing incident
FA confirmed the pair ‘were each offered the option and have elected to complete 200 hours of unpaid football-related community service to support FA’s integrity and education programs’.
That means their respective suspensions should finish in May 2028, when former New Zealand international Lewis will be 31 and Baccus will be 36.
It all but ends Baccus’s professional career while Lewis will be at the tail end of his professional football days.
And former Western United player Riku Danzaki was rubbed out for seven years by FA after he deliberately received a series of yellow cards in a separate spot-fixing outcome.
The 25-year-old winger therefore cannot play in Australia until June 1, 2032, when he would be 32, effectively ending his career.
‘The community service element of the sanction is designed to provide the players an avenue of rehabilitation and constructive engagement with the football community during their bans,’ FA said in a statement.
All three players have accepted their respective punishments and won’t appeal.
