Sports

Five top football referees suspended over match-fixing charges

The Football Kenya Federation, FKF, has announced the provisional suspension of five top football league referees over allegations of match-fixing and manipulation of national league results.

Kenya’s football governing body said the decision to suspend the referees was taken to safeguard the integrity of the sport, which came under the spotlight after four players were banned — one of them for life — by FIFA in February last year for taking part in “an international conspiracy to fix league matches.”

The five suspended referees are Raymond Onyango, Samuel Mwaura, Isaac Memusi, Collins Opiyo, and Japheth Juma.

FKF General Secretary, Barry Otieno, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

Two of the suspended referees, Memusi and Onyango, were dropped from the list of FIFA referees at the start of this season after failing match fitness tests.

“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 read in part.

Otieno added that the federation remains confident about the integrity of the country’s Premier League.

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