How much trouble is Ulises Dávila in?!

LG

From "Stuff" headline 

"Former Wellington Phoenix player Ulises Davila admits role in spot-fixing scheme"

Now what that headline should read is:


"Former MacArthur Captain Ulises Davila admits role in spot-fixing scheme."

But no, those nonces have to take another shot at the Nix. I hope the Club go after them because that headline suggests by infurence that it may have involved the Nix. 

I know Stuff is full of puff pieces and PC as hell, but really? Lazy Journalism or a cheap shot? They need to be held accountable.

 It's called making the story relevant for a New Zealand audience.

Whilst at the same time creating a tenuous link to the Nix to unsavoury behaviour. Not everyone who reads the sports news understands that Davilla is no longer with the Nix.

theprof

Whilst at the same time creating a tenuous link to the Nix to unsavoury behaviour. Not everyone who reads the sports news understands that Davilla is no longer with the Nix.

It literally says 'former'.

andrewvoerman

theprof

Whilst at the same time creating a tenuous link to the Nix to unsavoury behaviour. Not everyone who reads the sports news understands that Davilla is no longer with the Nix.

It literally says 'former'.

sure, but how many people do you think read that article and think "I bet he was doing it at the Nix" 

Personally don’t have a problem with the way it’s framed. As AV says, it’s making it relevant to the NZ audience.  Still gutted this is who he’s turned into, especially since what’s happened to him since he left us.

theprof

andrewvoerman

theprof

Whilst at the same time creating a tenuous link to the Nix to unsavoury behaviour. Not everyone who reads the sports news understands that Davilla is no longer with the Nix.

It literally says 'former'.

sure, but how many people do you think read that article and think "I bet he was doing it at the Nix" 

A bigger concern would be those people's inability to read; the story is perfectly clear as to when and where he did it.

I think I get it why theprof is complaining: it's the fact that there is an article out there on the Stuff website that includes both "Wellington Phoenix" and "spot-fixing" in one sentence.    And yeah, with the short attention span of the scrolling generation, there is always a chance that it creates a wrong subliminal message in minds of people who will not read the article, just the headlines.

It brings to mind an old commie press joke I remember hearing as a child in Poland, from an uncle who was a journalist: 
A subeditor asks his cadet journo: "is your copy ready, the one about the local Party boss embezzling public funds?"
Cadet journo: "yes, but the police say we got it wrong.  He did not steal public funds, it was he who was the victim of theft, he reported that his whole wallet full of cash was stolen in public, down at the pub last weekend,"
Subeditor: "Hmmm... then we play it safe till we know more; let's print it under the heading "Breaking news: local Party boss involved in unexpected disappearance of a large sum of money, more to follow".

Mainland FC

I think I get it why theprof is complaining: it's the fact that there is an article out there on the Stuff website that includes both "Wellington Phoenix" and "spot-fixing" in one sentence.    And yeah, with the short attention span of the scrolling generation, there is always a chance that it creates a wrong subliminal message in minds of people who will not read the article, just the headlines.

It brings to mind an old commie press joke I remember hearing as a child in Poland, from an uncle who was a journalist: 
A subeditor asks his cadet journo: "is your copy ready, the one about the local Party boss embezzling public funds?"
Cadet journo: "yes, but the police say we got it wrong.  He did not steal public funds, it was he who was the victim of theft, he reported that his whole wallet full of cash was stolen in public, down at the pub last weekend,"
Subeditor: "Hmmm... then we play it safe till we know more; let's print it under the heading "Breaking news: local Party boss involved in unexpected disappearance of a large sum of money, more to follow".

This guy gets it!
Press write a story and include the Nix so the locals will read it even though the Nix have zero to do with the story - is this not the very definition of clickbait?
Any Nix fan who watches the league knows the Davilla played for us and is already interested in the story so will read it. But for all those non-football fans who click and skim the story cos it's about a local player will create a link between his criminal activities and the Nix. 

How do we know he didn’t get up to mischief while here, eg the miss pen?

we dont! however, our name has not been mentioned in connection to any of the match fixing stuff - Davilla has come clean on what he was involved in and the Nix has never come up.

Marto

How do we know he didn’t get up to mischief while here, eg the miss pen?

You would go bat crazy if you looked at all our missed penalties and the seemingly endless stupid yellows trying to figure out if someone was on the take.

Marto

How do we know he didn’t get up to mischief while here, eg the miss pen?

It was the one that stood out to me 😂 but I’d prefer not to think about the possibility of tainting his time with us.

Good reminder why match fixing needs to be dealth with harshly (life time ban).

Raises a cloud of doubt over EVERYTHING.

RR

coochiee wrote:

https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2026/02/19/court-fines-former-macarthur-captain-for-his-part-in-a-league-betting-scam/

Former Macarthur captain Ulises Dávila has been spared a jail sentence for his part in a scheme to corrupt the betting outcomes of men’s A-League games.


Dávila (34) has been fined A$11,000 for leading a plan for Macarthur players, including All White Clayton Lewis, to deliberately trigger yellow cards during A-League games played in late 2023.


In October last year, Dávila pleaded guilty to facilitating and engaging in conduct that corrupts the outcome of an event’s betting.


On Wednesday, magistrate Marguerite Vassall entered two convictions against Dávila, saying: “It to some extent brings the integrity of the game into disrepute.”


Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court was told Dávila’s offending took place while the player was grieving after the death of his wife.


A Colombian contact known as J Col orchestrated a number of wagers on the number of yellow cards in a game between Macarthur and Sydney.


Fifty suspicious bets were placed, resulting in an estimated loss of more than $167,000 for a better operator.


There was no evidence that Dávila was aware of the amounts wagered.


Dávila’s lawyers said there was no evidence he had received any financial benefit, and a psychologist’s report said Dávila was motivated by a desire to keep his family safe in an environment where he felt threats were real. He acted while under fear and pressure, the court was told.


Former Mexican U-20 international Dávila won the Johnny Warren Medal in 2020-21 for being judged the men’s A-League’s best player.


In September 2025, Lewis and his Macarthur teammate Kearyn Baccus were sentenced to two-year conditional release orders.


They were ordered to pay $10,000 in pecuniary penalties, the same amount they each received for agreeing to get yellow cards.


Lewis and Baccus have since been given five-year bans from playing all forms of football, but the ban can be reduced by a year if they complete 200 hours of unpaid football-related community service.


Football Australia are expected to impose sanctions on Dávila following his convictions.

Interesting that Lewis and Baccus both got $10k pecuniary penalty, being what they got paid, while Davila gets a $11k fine which the article doesn't link to what he got from the scheme. It suggests to me that Davila may not have received any pay for the scheme... 

Which if true, makes his defence that he only offended because of a 'desire to keep his family safe'?? - more believable.

Did this Colombian betting cartel, somehow threaten his family in Mexico??

But then I remember that approaching the SFC game when these dodgy yellows were given out, Davila was rushing around finding a team mate to bring into the scheme. And (Lewis?) Miller suggested last minute that Davila approach Lewis.

All a bit puzzling.