FKF Suspends Five Top Football Referees

Kenya’s football governing body, Football Kenya Federation (FKF), has suspended five top official referees in the East African country.

Naija News reports that the football officials were suspended over alleged involvement in match-fixing and manipulation of national league results.

The five suspended referees are Raymond Onyango, Samuel Mwaura, Isaac Memusi, Collins Opiyo, and Japheth Juma. According to the country’s football governing body, the decision to suspend the referees was taken to safeguard the integrity of the sport.

Naija News understands that the decision was taken under the spotlight after four players were banned. One of them was banned for life by FIFA in February last year for taking part in “an international conspiracy to fix league matches.”

Speaking on the development on Saturday, FKF General Secretary, Barry Otieno, said 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,” Otieno noted in the statement.

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