Four soccer players have been banned from the sport in Australia for several years after being found guilty of match-fixing offenses. Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus accepted AU$10,000 (US$6,647) apiece to intentionally get yellow cards during an A-League match in December 2023 for Macarthur FC against Sydney FC.
paid to get yellow cards by his then-club captain Ulises Davila
Football Australia issued them both a five-year ban, backdated to May 2024. They were granted a 12-month reduction after agreeing to complete 200 hours of unpaid soccer-related community service. Lewis played 27 times for the New Zealand national team. He was paid to get yellow cards by his then-club captain Ulises Davila.
Japanese pair Riku Danzaki and Yuta Hirayama both got seven-year bans after Danzaki was deliberately booked in several games earlier this year in return for AU$16,000 (US$10,636) from Hirayama.
None of the four players intends to appeal their penalties, and they have to forfeit the money they received for their match-fixing efforts.
