Australian soccer players banned over spot-fixing

Football Australia has banned former Western United player Riku Danzaki for seven years and ex-Macarthur FC pair Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus for at least four years over spot-fixing gambling offenses in the A-League. In August, Japanese footballer Danzaki was convicted and fined, along with amateur player Yuta Hirayama, for committing yellow card betting fraud. Hirayama would place bets on Danzaki deliberately receiving yellow cards.

Danzaki and Hirayama have been banned for seven years, backdated to June 1, when they were both issued no-fault interim suspensions, Football Australia said Friday. In September, Baccus and Lewis were handed two-year conditional release orders, similar to a good behavior bond, and avoided convictions after pleading guilty to engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event.

The pair admitted being paid 10,000 Australian dollars ($6,600) each by former club captain Ulises Davila to deliberately earn yellow cards at a match in December 2023. They were also required to repay the money they received for getting the yellow cards as a fine. Davila in October pleaded guilty to facilitating and engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event and is awaiting sentencing. Football Australia said all four players have accepted their respective punishments and won’t appeal.