A former A-League player and his friend have been convicted and fined $5000 each for committing yellow-card betting fraud that “strikes at the heart of competitive sport”. Ex-Western United midfielder Riku Danzaki and amateur player Yuta Hirayama were each handed $5000 fines on Friday. The pair had asked the court to spare them a conviction over the one-month fraud, where Hirayama would place bets on Danzaki receiving yellow cards. The fraudulent bets were made through agencies, including Bet365 and Tabcorp, with Danzaki pocketing about $16,000 in winnings from three matches after deliberately receiving yellow cards. Magistrate Nick Goodenough said he had decided to convict both men to ensure others were “deterred and discouraged from doing the same thing”.