A star in Australian professional soccer has pleaded guilty to charges of match fixing in court. A-League player Ulises Davila admitted his role in a lucrative scheme also involving two of his Macarthur Bulls teammates.
34-year-old Davila, who was the club captain of the Bulls at the time of the offences, earned yellow cards along with his accomplices to try to guarantee betting outcomes. The offences took place across the 2023 and 2024 seasons, involving a total of six games.
Davila received the caution for simply kicking the ball away and delaying play
The court heard the details of the six games. For instance, during a match on December 09, 2023 Davila earned a yellow card, along with his teammates Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus. In this case, Davila received the caution for simply kicking the ball away and delaying play.
The group had placed bets on the Bulls receiving at least four yellows in the game, with returns totaling AU$200,000 (US$132,000). Lewis and Baccus confirmed that they received AU$10,000 (US$6,600) each for their roles in the scheme that day.
After their wrongdoing was discovered, all of the players were suspended by Macarthur and lost their contracts. Davila had previously signed with English Premier League club Chelsea in his early 20s, although never made the first team. He won the best player in the A-League award in 2020-21 for Wellington Phoenix.
