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Kenya Probes Goalkeeper Match-Fixing Allegation

Our Reporters1 week ago1 week ago03 mins

Kenya opened a match-fixing investigation Thursday following allegations that a national team goalkeeper helped rig an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) confirmed it was aware of videos circulating online involving goalkeeper Patrick Matasi which raised concern about the possibility of match manipulation. “FKF upholds the integrity of football and has launched an official investigation, in collaboration with FIFA, CAF, and other relevant authorities,” the Kenya football board said in a statement. “We reaffirm our zero-tolerance policy on match manipulation and are committed to safeguarding the credibility of our competition.” The secretly filmed online amateur video seen by AFP shows an unnamed man talking to Matasi over a plan to fix a match in return for cash. The former AFC Leopards and Tusker goalkeeper, who also had a playing stint with Ethiopian side Coffee Sports Club, played in Kenya’s 4-1 loss to former African champions Cameroon in a 2025 AFCON qualifier in Yaounde last October. The defeat dimmed Kenya’s hopes of qualifying for the finals in Morocco, and led to the resignation of the team’s coach Engin Firat. Matasi was dropped from the team by the new coach Benni McCarthy and did not feature in the recent 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Gambia and Gabon. Kenyan football has been hit by the dark shadow of match-fixing malpractices in the recent past with 14 players and two coaches suspended by the FKF in January 2023 following a tip-off about cheating in the national league. In February 2020, FIFA banned four Kenyan-based players — one for life — over an “international conspiracy” to fix league matches. Five Kenyan referees were also later suspended over the same scandal. The Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis, an independent think tank, warned that match-fixing had infiltrated multiple levels of Kenyan football from grassroots competitions to the professional leagues. “This has left a trail of disillusionment among fans and undermined the integrity of football and could lead to loss of public trust and confidence in the football industry,” the organization said in a January 2024 report.

43 Chinese players, officials bag life ban over match-fixing, gambling

Our Reporters7 months ago7 months ago05 mins

The Chinese Football Association has imposed a life ban on 38 football players and five club officials for match-fixing, gambling and bribery after a two-year investigation. Former Chinese internationals Jin Jingdao, Guo Tianyu and Gu Chao, as well as South Korean player Son Jun-ho were among those barred, for the rest of their lives, from taking part in any football-related activities in China. Zhang Xiaopeng, a senior official from the Ministry of Public Security, told a press conference in Dalian on September 10 that the investigation uncovered 120 fixed matches and implicated 128 criminal suspects and 41 football clubs, according to Xinhua News Agency. Zhang explained that “the Ministry of Public Security reported the details of the first batch of 61 people involved in the cases to the General Administration of Sport of China and the CFA” and among them, 44 individuals faced criminal penalties for bribery, gambling, and the illegal opening of casinos, while 17 others were found to have engaged in bribery and match-fixing. The CFA President Song Kai confirmed that 43 of the 44 facing criminal penalties had been banned for life from football-related activities, and 17 others, consisting of 15 players and two club officials, received five-year bans. Shen Liuxi, a former Hangzhou Greentown player, was not in the lifetime ban list because he had already received the same sanction in 2013. In the latest investigation, he was found guilty of opening illegal casinos. An international player is also among those given five-year bans; Cameroonian Ewolo Donovan, who played for Heilongjiang Ice City. South Korean player Son was in detention for 10 months in China before he was released in March and returned to his country, where he currently plays for Suwon. His agent Park Dae-yeon said it was “ridiculous” to accuse his client of match-fixing and that they would hold a press conference “to say everything we have to say”. Suwon’s sporting director, Choi Soon-ho, said they would continue to field Son unless ordered not to do so because the CFA ruling “doesn’t apply to us”. Choi said: “He vehemently denied bribery charges when he signed with us and I respect that.” A statement from the CFA read: “According to the facts found by the judicial authorities, Son Jun-ho, a former player of Shandong Taishan FC, participated in illegal transactions, manipulated football matches and obtained illegal gains to seek inlawful benefits. His actions seriously violated sports ethics and sportsmanship, causing significant negative social impact. In March this year, a former chairman of the CFA was sentenced to life in prison. Five months later in August, a former vice president of the association was sentenced to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes, and a former director of the competition department was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for the same offence.