Bosnich fears for Macarthur’s future after bombshell betting scandal

After another season full of dramatic off-field events, the A-League Men’s competition has been shaken to its core after three Macarthur FC players were arrested on allegations of match-fixing.

Macarthur captain Ulises Dávila, along with senior players Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis were all arrested on Friday morning and have since been charged by NSW Police.

Davilla allegedly paid two of his teammates up to $10,000 to intentionally receive yellow cards and give away penalties, the trio have been charged with engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event, and participating in a criminal group. They will all face court over the next fortnight and have all been hit with a no fault interim suspension notices by Football Australia.

Australian football legend turned pundit, Mark Bosnich, revealed his deep concerns for the future of not only the club but the entire A-League given the magnitude of the allegations.

“We have to preface this, in my opinion, everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence, unless proven otherwise, however, the picture, the news, it’s damming,” Bosnich said on SEN 1170 Mower’s Club.

“It’s damming for the club Macarthur, I don’t see how they survive this, they’re struggling anyway, I mean how they are going to get a new sponsor for example “It’s damming for the league, which has suffered greatly over the last three years, there’s been setback after setback, over the last six months it’s been a domino effect.”

Bosnich’s fears stem from the harsh financial situation that the A-League clubs find themselves in, with the game’s organisers, the APL significantly slashing funding to all teams ahead of next season.

“The club is struggling anyway in terms of the crowds and what it’s getting and so forth,” Bosnich added.

“I really fear for them and their future because a situation like this, that’s why I’m really praying these three are found innocent, in terms of the club, it is really going to be difficult for them in the future, or whenever this is cleared up, for example, to get sponsors to get people coming to the games.

“It just goes to show, the fish rots from the head, the whole game at the moment, except for shinning lights, (like) the Matildas, the Socceroos have been, some of the great work being done at Football Australia, they’re actually being eroded by what’s going on the in the whole game.

“The whole game, what I’m saying to the professional game has been an absolute disaster over the last three years and it’s getting worse, something has to be done.”

Bosnich concluded his assessment of the situation with a massively bold suggestion to try an improve the situation.

“The person I really feel sorry for is Stephen Conroy, who’s taken over as Chairman of the A-League, I thought this when he first came in, ‘has he stepped on the Titanic when it’s halfway done’, what a thing he has sort out, him and Nick Garcia,” Bosnich said.

“What a job that they’ve got, they’ve got to seriously think about, I mean this, is it time maybe to fold the whole thing and start again?”

Listen to the full chat below.