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The world football governing body, FIFA, has ordered the relegation of Kenyan second-tier side Muhoroni Youth after finding the club guilty of match manipulation, the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) confirmed on Friday.
The disciplinary move marks the latest in a string of scandals that have dogged Kenyan football, where concerns over match-fixing have persisted for years.
In a decision published Friday, FIFA concluded that Muhoroni Youth were “guilty of activities related to the manipulation of football matches and competitions.”
As a result, the club’s senior team has been expelled from the FKF National Super League and will be demoted to the third-tier Division One League next season.
The FKF said it “fully supports FIFA’s decision” and reiterated its “zero-tolerance stance on match-fixing and all forms of manipulation that threaten the integrity of the game.”
The ruling comes in the wake of another high-profile controversy involving former national team goalkeeper Patrick Matasi, who was suspended in March amid allegations of fixing Kenya’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Cameroon in Yaoundé last year. Kenya were thrashed 4-1 in the match, severely denting their hopes of reaching the finals in Morocco.
Match-fixing concerns in Kenya are not new. In 2020, FIFA banned four players based in the country, including one for life, for their involvement in what was described as an “international conspiracy” to rig league games. Five referees were also suspended in connection with the same case.
The Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis, an independent government-affiliated think tank, has previously warned that match-fixing has deeply infiltrated Kenyan football, stretching from grassroots competitions up to the professional ranks.
