It is now evident that there is massive match-fixing and related malpractices not only in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) but in international matches involving the national soccer team, Harambee Stars.
This is quite disturbing for a country that is struggling to find its footing both on the local and international football scene.
In January, the world football governing body, Fifa, banned three Kenyan footballers – Moses Chikati (Kakamega Homeboyz), Festus Okiring (Western Stima) and Festo Omoto (Kakamega Homeboyz) – from all football activities for four years.
Nine months before, former Harambee Stars defender George Owino had been banned by Fifa over similar malpractices and fined Sh1.5 million.
These bans and repeated reports about such misconduct have eroded the credibility and integrity of Kenyan football.
Investigations have revealed that players engaged in match-fixing have been receiving between Sh200,000 to Sh500,000 in cash. Clearly, it is a lucrative business, hence the huge temptation.
The government, KPL management and Football Kenya Federation must institute investigations that will get to the bottom of these malpractices.
Further, they should formulate policies and laws to curb match-fixing. At the moment, it is not a crime to fix matches.
Kenya should borrow a leaf from Europe, where those found to have committed the offence of fixing matches are jailed and fined heavily.
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