Kenya probes goalkeeper match-fixing allegation

NAIROBI: 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.