NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 30 – Football Kenya Federation has suspended five match officials, including FIFA referee Raymond Onyango on suspicion of match manipulation, a statement signed by Federation CEO Barry Otieno has said.
Onyango has been suspended alongside Samuel Mwaura, Isaac Memusi, Collins Opiyo and Japheth Juma, with the Federation said it made the decision to safeguard the integrity of its leagues and competitions.
“The federation’s Integrity Department, with the assistance of FIFA, has initiated preliminary investigations against the said individuals, with a view of establishing their involvement, if any, in the said match manipulation practices,” the statement further stated.
There has been cries from fans, players and coaches this season over the poor state of officiating with several calls raising eyebrows and the Federation took it within their stride to investigate and try root out the problem.
This comes just three months after world football governing body FIFA announced the expulsion of Zoo Kericho from the BetKing Premier League after they were found guilty of match manipulation.
Last year, three players from Kakamega Homeboyz; Moses Chikati, Festus Okuring and Festo Omukoto as well as Ugandan coach Paul Nkata were slapped with four year bans for match fixing.
It came just a few months after former Kenyan international George ‘Wise’ Owino was handed a 10-year ban for match manipulation during his time with the national team.
FKF has said they will continue working with FIFA to ensure the vice is rooted out from the country, coming at a time when it is highly on the increase.
“The federation has, with the assistance of FIFA, established and consistently continues to update its match manipulation detection platform, with a view of protecting and safeguarding the integrity of its competitions, against global match fixers,” FKF further say.
The financial struggles of most teams in the league have not made the situation any better as players themselves are seeing the need to throw away matches for a few shillings with some clubs seeing players go up to five months without pay.