A-League club Macarthur FC has been plunged further into scandal as two more of its players were named as alleged participants in an illegal bet-fixing scheme.
Matthew Millar and Jed Drew have been accused in court documents of participating in a criminal group involving three other Bulls players who have been charged over the alleged plot to receive yellow cards for money.
The details were revealed on Thursday when midfielder Kearyn Baccus, 32, became the first of the already-charged trio to face court since details of the scheme were revealed by investigators.
Neither Millar nor Drew has been charged and both the sport's Australian governing body and the club said the latter player was not considered a suspect.
Police previously said they were looking for another Macarthur player who was not in NSW at the time of the mid-May arrests, when club captain Ulises Davila and teammate Clayton Lewis were charged alongside Baccus.
Davila, 33, has been accused of allegedly paying Baccus and Lewis, 27, to deliberately receive yellow cards in a scheme NSW police said led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being paid out in winnings.
All three are on bail.
Police on Thursday said their probe into the alleged bet-fixing syndicate continued, while Football Australia said Drew was not currently under investigation.
“Football Australia takes these matters seriously and is committed to co-operating fully with the authorities," it said in a statement.
Macarthur FC issued a similar statement on social media, noting that it was also helping authorities.
Drew, 20, is the son of former NRL player Brad Drew and joined the Bulls in 2022 as a winger, the same year as Melbourne-born Millar.
Baccus appeared at Campbelltown Local Court on Thursday but did not speak during the brief mention and did not indicate how he would plead when questioned outside court.
His lawyer Bryan Wrench told the court the competitive nature of A-League matches should be taken into account when considering the case.
"It was circumstances where he was a highly competitive, aggressive player," he said.
Baccus's case was adjourned until June 24, when he is due to appear at Downing Centre Local Court alongside Davila.
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 accused players were booked in the December 9 game against Sydney.
Investigators also 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 their code of conduct.
