Four players have been hit with lengthy bans after being found guilty of spot-fixing
Football Australia has imposed significant bans on four players, including a seven-year suspension for Riku Danzaki, following investigations into spot-fixing and betting offences in the A-League.
Japanesefootballer Danzaki, formerly of Western United, received his seven-year ban, backdated to June 1, alongside amateur player Yuta Hirayama. The pair were convicted and fined in August for a yellow card betting scheme, where Hirayama placed bets on Danzaki intentionally receiving cautions.
Meanwhile, ex-Macarthur FC players Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus have been banned for a minimum of four years each. Their suspensions stem from admitting to accepting $10,000 payments from former club captain Ulises Davila.
The payments were made to deliberately incur yellow cards during a December 2023 match.
Both Lewis and Baccus pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event, receiving two-year conditional release orders and avoiding convictions. They were also ordered to repay the illicit earnings.
Ulises Davila, who facilitated these payments, pleaded guilty in October to similar charges and is currently awaiting sentencing.
Football Australia confirmed on Friday that all four players have accepted their respective penalties and will not be appealing the decisions.
Australia is not the only country dealing with a betting scandal in football right now.
A probe into alleged betting in Turkish football is also ongoing. The investigation initially found in October that 371 of 571 active referees in Turkey’s professional leagues had betting accounts.
The following month, 17 referees were arrested, while over 1,000 players were suspended by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), including Galatasaray duo Eren Elmali and Metehan Baltaci.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that top-flight players were being held in jail pending trial as part of the betting investigation.
State-run Anadolu news agency reported that among those formally arrested were Baltaci, Fenerbahce player Mert Hakan Yandas, and Murat Sancak, the former president of Adana Demirspor.
Category: General Sports
