Macarthur FC captain Ulises Dávila is one of three players from the A-League side arrested this morning over an alleged betting scandal.
The NSW Police Organised Crime Squad Gaming Unit launched an investigation into the alleged manipulation of yellow cards during football games for gambling purposes.
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Our live coverage of the press conference is over but stay on this story and the ABC News website for more updates.
That is the end of the press conference with NSW Police.
Macarthur FC has just released a statement in response to the arrests of three of its players.
“The club is shocked and aware of the arrests of three A-League players by NSW Police as a result of international law enforcement coordination focused on betting corruption related to alleged yellow card manipulation in games,” it said.
“Integrity of our game is a foundation pillar and we will work closely with all relevant agencies on this matter.
“The club will make further comment if and when is required.”
To end the press conference, the assistant commissioner says this:
“Any influence from crime figures within New South Wales or overseas in influencing young sportspeople to engage in conduct that you would like to think is abhorrent to their own code of ethics, we would like to state that there is no evidence of other players involved from other clubs,” he says.
“We took action today because we were concerned that the principles involved in this matter would have left our shores in the coming days and weeks and that is what brought us to take this action as quickly as we wished.”
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Police will allege detectives discovered midfielder Dávila, 33, had been allegedly taking instructions from a man — believed to be in South America — to organise yellow cards to occur during certain points in A-League games.
The alleged offending occurred during games between November 24 and December 9 last year.
Dávila received a yellow card during Macarthur FC’s game against Melbourne Victory on November 24 and another yellow card during his side’s match against Sydney FC on December 9.
Failed attempts to allegedly control the number of cards issued during games happened between April 20 and May 4 this year.
Detectives arrested Dávila in South Coogee on Friday morning.
He is expected to be charged with two counts of engage in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event, and two counts of facilitate in conduct that corrupts a betting out of an event.
Dávila plays as an attacking midfielder and is the first Mexican to sign with English Premier League club Chelsea in 2011, and has previously played for Wellington Phoenix.
He recently signed on for another two years at Macarthur FC.
A 27-year-old player from Parramatta and a 32-year-old player from West Hoxton were also arrested.
Both men are expected to be charged with engage in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event.
Football Australia said all three players are expected to face court this afternoon and was cooperating with authorities.
Detectives from the organised crime squad are working with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Sports Integrity Australia, Football Australia, Australian Professional Leagues and the NSW Crime Commission.
The investigation is ongoing.
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Posted 2h ago2 hours agoThu 16 May 2024 at 11:53pm, updated 44m ago44 minutes agoFri 17 May 2024 at 1:31am
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