Macarthur FC captain allegedly paid players to manipulate yellow cards

The scandal, a week out from the grand final, has sent shockwaves across the sport.

Macarthur FC released a statement saying they were "shocked" about the arrests of the three players.

"Integrity of our game is a foundation pillar and we will work closely with all relevant agencies on this," the statement read.

On May 17 police said investigations revealed Davila, 33, was allegedly taking instructions from a South American man - nicknamed the 'controller' - who was part of an overseas crime ring, to organise for yellow cards to occur during certain games in exchange for profit.

A number of yellow cards were allegedly manipulated during games played on November 24, 2023 and December 9, 2023.

Failed attempts were then allegedly made to control the number of yellow cards during games on April 20, 2024 and May 4, 2024.

The other two players arrested have been confirmed as Clayton Lewis, 27, from New Zealand and 32-year-old Kearyn Baccus.

NSW Assistant Commissioner Mike Fitzgerald said police will allege that a senior member of this "criminal football group" paid the juniors players within that group up to $10,000 for intentionally giving away those yellow cards and receiving penalties during those games.

"Those players intentionally gave out yellow cards in the receipt and purpose of a corrupt payment," he said.

The senior member was acting on the direction of an organised crime figure offshore in South America.

There is currently one further player who police wish to interview that is currently out of the state, he said.

Detective Superintendent Peter Faux said in one game "multiple hundreds of thousands dollars" was moved overseas.

He said the senior player was not being threatened to allegedly engage in this type of crime.

There is no evidence that any other club within the A-League is involved.

"We are continuing our investigation at this time in relation to these people we have in custody at the moment," Supt. Faux said.

On May 17 a search warrant was executed in South Coogee, where they arrested Davila.

He was taken to Mascot police station, where he was charged with two counts of engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event, and two counts of facilitate in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event.

He was granted conditional bail to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on June 24.

Simultaneously, strike force detectives executed three other search warrants in Parramatta, West Hoxton, and Emu Plains.

At the Parramatta address, detectives arrested a 27-year-old man. He was taken to Parramatta police station, where he was charged with engaging in conduct that corrupts betting outcome of event, and participate in a criminal group.

The man was granted conditional bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday 27 June 2024.

In West Hoxton, detectives arrested a 32-year-old man. He was taken to Campbelltown Police Station, where he was charged with engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event.

The man was granted conditional bail to appear in Campbelltown Local Court on Thursday 30 May 2024.

Organised Crime Squad detectives are working with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Sports Integrity Australia, Football Australia, Australian Professional Leagues, and the NSW Crime Commission as inquiries continue.

In a statement Football Australia said they were "aware" of the arrests of the three A-League players for alleged betting corruption.

"Football Australia is fully cooperating with the Organized Crime Squad, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Sport Integrity Australia and the NSW Commission on this matter," a spokesperson said.