Friday, October 10, 2025 - Former Chelsea midfielder
Ulises Dávila has admitted to orchestrating a yellow card betting scam that
generated nearly £100,000 in illicit payouts, marking one of the most shocking
match-fixing scandals in Australian football.
The 34-year-old Mexican, who joined Chelsea in 2011 and
captained A-League side Macarthur FC, pleaded guilty in a Sydney court to
facilitating and engaging in conduct that corrupted betting outcomes in six
A-League matches between 2023 and 2024.
According to prosecutors, Dávila was the ringleader of the
scheme, recruiting at least two of his Macarthur teammates to deliberately
receive yellow cards during specific matches so that coordinated bets could be
placed on those outcomes.
The scam reportedly centred around a match against Sydney FC
in December 2023, in which Dávila deliberately earned a booking for kicking the
ball away. In the same game, teammates Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus were
also cautioned — Lewis for pushing an opponent and Baccus for a reckless
tackle.
Bets were placed predicting that Macarthur players would
receive at least four yellow cards, allowing those involved to collect close
to £100,000 in winnings from bookmakers.
Lewis and Baccus both admitted to participating but avoided
convictions after telling the court they acted at Dávila’s request. They
described him as “not only the captain of the team, but the captain of the
scheme.” Both players received good-behaviour bonds, while Dávila faces a
custodial sentence.
The court heard that Dávila paid each teammate around £5,000
for their cooperation. All three players were immediately suspended by
Macarthur FC and later released from their contracts.
Dávila’s guilty plea comes after prosecutors agreed to
withdraw eight additional charges, including allegations that he “directed and
participated in a criminal group.” He is scheduled to be sentenced on December
19 at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court.
Once regarded as a promising young talent, Dávila became the
first Mexican player to sign for Chelsea when he joined the club in 2011 after
impressing at the Under-20 World Cup. However, he never broke into the first
team due to work permit restrictions and spent his time on loan with clubs
including Vitesse Arnhem, Sabadell, Córdoba, Tenerife, and Vitória Setúbal.
After leaving Stamford Bridge, Dávila returned to Mexico
with Santos Laguna before later moving to India’s Delhi Dynamos, New Zealand’s
Wellington Phoenix, and finally Macarthur FC in Australia, where he was named
A-League Player of the Year in 2022.
The scandal has sent shockwaves through Australian football,
with sports integrity investigators calling it “a major breach of trust and
professionalism.”
Dávila remains out on bail ahead of his sentencing, facing
potential prison time for his role in manipulating match outcomes for financial
gain.
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