• Among those suspended are two coaches, five former players and eight players.
• The tacticians are Zetech University coach Willis Ochieng Oganyo and Kericho FC head coach Du Monde Selenga.
Image: FILE
The Football Kenya Federation has suspended some match officials and players as investigations into alleged match-fixing get underway.
FKF secretary general Barry Otieno said in a statement on Friday that the Federation has received confidential reports on the alleged involvement of 15 officials and players in fixing matches.
"In an effort to protect the integrity of the league, in line with the Federation's zero-tolerance policy on match-fixing, the Federation provisionally suspended the following individuals pending the investigation of the matter by the Fifa and FKF's integrity department," Otieno said.
Among those suspended are two coaches, six former and seven current players.
The tacticians are Zetech University coach Willis Ochieng Oganyo and Kericho FC head coach Du Monde Selenga.
The players are Sammy Sindani (Silibwet Leons FC), Geoffrey Gichana (Zoo FC), Dominc Okoth (Kericho FC), Isaac Kipyegon (Tusker FC) Stanlaus Munyasa (Silibwet Leons FC), Williams Odunga (Silibwet) and Brian Lumumba (Zoo FC).
Former players are Dennis Monda (Vihiga United), Daniel Kiptoo (Zoo FC), Johnstone Ligare (Zoo FC), Michael Idovolo (Nairobi City Stars), Vincent Misikhu and Hamidu Lucas both of Zoo FC.
"All FKF members are advised to avoid any form of sporting contact with the aforementioned individuals during their suspension period," Otieno said.
Match fixing normally results in suspension from footballing activities of the individuals involved, sometimes for several years or even permanently.
In some countries, the offence is considered a criminal offence, meaning and officials who are found guilty of match-fixing risk a jail sentence.
The suspension comes at a time Kenya is smarting from a FIFA ban occasioned by state interference in the country's footballing activities.
Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba said on Monday the Kenyan government and Fifa have agreed on a slew of measures to help resurrect the country's ailing football.
He, however, made it clear that the government is not interested in running the game directly, but rather in creating an enabling environment.
"Football has its own infrastructure; the government is only interested in creating an environment in which football can thrive,” Namwamba said.
He spoke after meeting with an Africa Fifa delegation at the Kenyan National Library Service in Nairobi to map out the next steps, just weeks after Kenya was spared a far-reaching ban.
Fifa’s director of Member Association Africa, Gelson Fernandes, and the Confederation of African Football’s legal counsel, Naddim Magdy, were in attendance.
"We have agreed on certain targets that will help Kenya get back to the football high table. And so we have discussed several projects, one being the development of youth football. We have told Fifa and Caf that Kenya is going back to the basics and the basics for us is grassroots football," the CS said.