A-League Scandal: Players Banned Over Match-Fixing

Four players, including ex-New Zealand international Clayton Lewis, have been banned from football for years due to a betting scandal involving deliberate yellow cards in A-League matches. The players received payments to affect match outcomes but avoided criminal convictions, facing various fines and community service as penalties.

Four football players have been issued lengthy bans from all football-related activities in response to a betting scandal, Football Australia announced on Friday. The controversy involves former Macarthur Bulls players Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus, who participated in a scheme to receive yellow cards intentionally during A-League matches.

Both Lewis and Baccus confessed to accepting payments of A$10,000 each from their club captain, Ulises Davila, to secure these yellow cards across multiple games in late 2023. Their bans started on May 17, 2024, and will span five years unless shortened by one year through completion of community service in the football sector.

In a separate case, Riku Danzaki and Yuta Hirayama, the latter an amateur player, were banned for seven years beginning June 1, 2025. Danzaki, a former Western United midfielder, was fined for fraudulent activities, while both Danzaki and Hirayama, who had placed related bets, pleaded guilty to several corruption charges in Melbourne Magistrates Court. None of the accused opted to appeal, accepting the disciplinary actions.