CAF bans Kenyan referee for life over bribe

JOHANNESBURG: A Kenyan referee who had been chosen for the 2018 World Cup in Russia has been banned for life after accepting a bribe, an African Football Confederation (CAF) statement said Sunday.

Marwa Range was dropped from the World Cup list after a media sting exposed him accepting a $6,000 (about 5,100 euros) bribe from a journalist posing as a Ghanaian football official.

A terse CAF statement gave no details about what Range was expected to do in return for the cash.

Range is the second major casualty of a series of stings by Ghanaian journalists, which led to follow countryman Kwesi Nyantakyi resigning as CAF first vice-president over corruption.

A total of 22 referees are affected by the CAF crackdown with Togolese Yanissou Bebou and Gambian Jallow Ebrima banned for 10 years each.

Ivory Coast referee Denis Dembele, a regular on the African national team and club fixtures circuit, got a six-year ban.

A further seven match officials received suspensions ranging between two and five years, according to the statement.

Another 11 referees — 10 Ghanaians and one Liberian — have been provisionally banned pending appearances before a CAF disciplinary board on August 5.