A-League club Macarthur FC have terminated the contract of captain Ulises Davila amid allegations he acted as local ringleader in an illegal bet-fixing scheme involving an unnamed criminal connection in Colombia.
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The 33-year-old has been accused of paying two of the A-League Men club's midfielders, Kearyn Baccus, 32, and Clayton Lewis, 27, up to $10,000 to deliberately receive yellow cards.
Police say the betting scheme led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being paid out in winnings and was headed by the South American contact.
Macarthur FC issued a statement on Monday afternoon confirming Davila's contract would be terminated.
"The club and Ulises Davila have agreed on a mutual termination of his contract," it said.
Davila appeared for the first time at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Monday.
Court documents allege the Bulls leader, in his role as captain, influenced other Macarthur players to participate in the scheme.
Baccus's case was mentioned in his absence on Monday after he fronted court in May.
The court heard prosecutors will present a brief of evidence to the players' lawyers by August 22.
Davila's bail conditions were varied by the court, requiring him to report to Maroubra police station just one day a week instead of two.
Lewis will have his turn in court on June 27.
Fellow Macarthur players Matthew Millar and Jed Drew have been named in court documents as participating in a criminal group with the accused trio.
Neither have been charged and both the sport's Australian governing body and the club said Drew was not considered a suspect.
Investigators allege yellow cards, which are universally issued as cautions by referees for foul play, were manipulated during games played on November 24 and December 9.
Macarthur played out a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory on November 24 before beating Sydney FC 2-0 on December 9.
All three charged players were booked in the December 9 game against Sydney.
Police allege unsuccessful attempts were made to do the same thing during matches on April 20 and May 4.
Football Australia subsequently stood down the trio, hitting them with no-fault interim suspension notices under its code of conduct.
Baccus and Millar were recently released by the Bulls during an off-season clean-out.
Davila and Lewis remained contracted to the club after the early June announcement for their teammates.
Australian Associated Press
