Macarthur FC midfielder Kearyn Baccus has appeared in court over his alleged role in an illegal betting operation, that police allege manipulated yellow cards in the A-league, for the purposes of spot fixing.
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00:00 Detectives from the NSW Police Organised Crime Squad's gaming unit started investigating
00:07 these three players several weeks ago and charged them in mid-May over allegations of
00:14 controlling yellow cards for the purposes of spot fixing or controlling betting outcomes
00:20 of these matches.
00:22 So what detectives allege is that MacArthur FC captain Ulises Davila was recruited or
00:30 instructed by a man who's believed to be in South America to control the number of yellow
00:35 cards issued during two games in November and December last year.
00:41 And police allege that there were also failed attempts to control the number of yellow cards
00:46 in games this year in April and in early May.
00:50 Now police allege that Mr Davila also recruited fellow MacArthur FC players Kieran Backus
00:57 and Clayton Lewis to participate in this alleged operation, allegedly offering them $10,000
01:05 to participate.
01:06 That's when detectives began investigating and they arrested these three players.
01:12 Now Kieran Backus is the first to front court on these allegations.
01:17 He was charged with a conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of a game and participating
01:24 in a criminal group.
01:25 Well Mr Backus fronted Campbelltown local court here this morning.
01:29 It was a very brief matter.
01:31 He wasn't required to speak and didn't enter a plea and he left court.
01:36 His bail was continued and the matter will be stood over until next month to line up
01:41 with the expected court appearances of Mr Davila and Mr Lewis.
01:46 And until then Mr Backus is on bail and he won't be required to appear on that next appearance.
01:54 But as I said that next appearance is when Mr Davila and Mr Lewis will face court for
01:58 the first time on similar charges of conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of a game
02:04 and participating in a criminal group.
02:07 So very serious allegations that have arisen with these three players and Football Australia
02:15 has said that the impact on the game is significant when these kinds of allegations do arise.
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