The former Mexican national team admitted participation in card fixing in Australia, where he led a betting scheme during the 2023-24 season

The former Mexican youth team and captain of the Macarthur FC, Ulises Dávilawho was named player of the year of the A-League Men In 2021, he admitted his involvement in a lucrative card-fixing scheme.

Davila34, was accused of being the ringleader of a betting ring in which he and two colleagues from the macarthur They caused deliberate warnings to comply with an agreed result in the bets. The charges are related to six games of the 2023-24 season of the A-League Men.

The former youth player of Chelsea appeared before a court on Thursday Sydney and pleaded guilty to facilitating and engaging in conduct that corrupted the outcome of betting. Eight charges against him – including those of leading and participating in a criminal group – were dropped by prosecutors at Downing Center Local Court. Davila He will be sentenced on December 19.

During a match on December 9, 2023 against the Sydney F.C., Davila and his companions Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus They received yellow cards. The captain was cautioned for delaying the game by kicking the ball away, lewis was sanctioned for pushing an opponent in the chest and Baccus for a reckless offense. According to the facts agreed upon by his teammates, bets had been placed for the team macarthur received at least four cards during the match.

The profits obtained from bets made through the Betplay site exceeded $200,000. Davila paid 10,000 dollars to lewis and Baccus for their participation in the rigging, according to what was declared by both. The two footballers received good conduct sentences and avoided conviction in September, after the magistrate determined that they were “at the lowest level of the scheme.”

lewis and Baccus They highlighted that they got involved at the request of Davilawho they described as “not only the captain of the team, but the captain of the scheme.” The three players were suspended by the Macarthur FC after their arrests and no longer belong to the club. The institution issued a strongly worded statement saying there are “serious deficiencies” in Australian Football’s integrity processes that must be addressed.

Current systems are inadequate to protect clubs from risk and lack the responsiveness needed to handle issues of this magnitude. A comprehensive review and reform of integrity protocols is urgently required to safeguard the future of the game.

Ulíses Dávila was a young promise of Mexican soccer, he participated in a U-20 World Cup with the national team and was signed by Chelsea at 20 years old.

He never managed to make his debut with the first team and played in several leagues before arriving in 2019 at the A-League Men with the Wellington Phoenix. He won the Johnny Warren Medal as the best player in the league in 2020-21 and later joined the Macarthur FCwhere he was named captain.

In 2022, the Mexican experienced a tragedy when his wife, Lily Pachecomother of his two-year-old son, died suddenly at the age of 31.