A former A-League player admitted to deliberately earning a yellow card ‘to earn a little bit of coin’ during a covertly recorded conversation in a police cell, a court has heard.
Clayton Lewis, fellow midfielder Kearyn Baccus and a third player have been accused of manipulating yellow cards during matches in 2023 and 2024.
The other footballer, 33, is yet to enter pleas to nine charges.
Baccus, 33, and Lewis, 27, swapped football jerseys for crisp shirts as they faced a Sydney Local Court this week to plead guilty to engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event.
A second charge of participating in a criminal group was withdrawn for both midfielders, who will return to court in September for sentencing.
They agreed they had been paid $10,000 each by a teammate to deliberately earn the referee-issued disciplinary cautions for foul play during a match in December 2023.
A former A-League player admitted to deliberately earning a yellow card ‘to earn a little bit of coin’ during a covertly recorded conversation in a police cell, a court has heard (pictured, ex- Macarthur Bulls star Clayton Lewis)
Fellow Macarthur Bulls midfielder Kearyn Baccus also faced court this week for his role in the scandal that rocked the A-League
According to the facts agreed by both his former teammates, the third player orchestrated 50 ‘suspicious’ bets placed on the Macarthur FC game against Sydney FC through international wagering platform Betplay.
The wagers were all placed at the same time before the match started, and all involved exactly two bets of equal amounts predicting the same outcome.
During the game at Allianz Stadium, the alleged ringleader earned the first of the team’s four yellow cards for delaying the start of play by kicking the ball away after the referee blew the whistle.
Twenty minutes later, Lewis received the same caution for unsporting behaviour after he forcefully pushed a Sky Blues player in the chest.
Baccus attracted another rebuke for tackling an opponent to the ground from behind towards the end of the game.
The successful bets resulted in a payout of more than $200,000 and caused the wagering operator a loss of an estimated $167,387, according to the facts.
There is no evidence either Baccus or Lewis had any involvement in placing the bets, but they agreed they were both paid $10,000 after the match.
Lewis was paid in three instalments, but Baccus devised a more elaborate explanation, telling his former teammate to describe it as a car payment for a Volkswagen Golf.
‘If anyone asks, you (are) buying a car off me,’ he said in WhatsApp messages quoted in the facts.
After his arrest, Baccus told police his teammate had not yet collected the car he sold him – while maintaining he only received yellow cards for playing aggressively or in service of the team.
Lewis, meanwhile, was put in a holding cell after his arrest and confessed to the other occupant that he deliberately solicited a yellow card ‘to earn a little bit of coin.’
The conversation was recorded with a surveillance device.
Lewis was recruited to the betting corruption scheme because he was known to be a gambler and thus seen as ‘influenceable’, according to the facts.
The trio were suspended by Macarthur FC following their arrests, with the third player set to face court in August.