Pauline Kathuruh, who serves as a goalkeeper for Gaspo Women and Harambee Starlets, Elizabeth Wambui, a striker for Gaspo Women and Pauline Naise, a striker at Zetech Sparks and Harambee Starlets, all voiced their concerns about match manipulation, identifying it as one of the prominent challenges faced in the Kenya Women Premier League. The three KWPL players were critical of some match officials who engage in match – fixing citing that it adversely affected the integrity of the women’s league and the game in recently concluded seasonSpeaking on a local sports show dubbed “Tuchapiane Show”, Starlets custodian Pauline Kathuruh revealed how a referee approached her asking her to manipulate one of their league fixtures in just ended season‘’One referee approached me and told me that I should let in a goal so that both teams score and they would pay me after the match,’’ said the Gaspo Women keeper. “I never gave a response and the referee proceeded asking me to introduce them to three players that they would use to manipulate games. Still, I didn’t respond and seeing how I reacted, the referee deduced that I wasn’t interested and after the match, they came and told me that they were no longer proceeding with the plan,” she added.##NAJAVA_MECA_7347755##Wambui, who is Pauline’s teammate at Gaspo corroborated the sentiments saying that referees were at the center of match fixing. Gor Mahia midfielder moves to North Macedonia”Some referees are paid by teams to manipulate games in their favor. If you watch a lot of videos, you will notice their actions,” offered Wambui.When asked to weigh in, Pauline Naise agreed with her colleagues highlighting that referees deliberately compromised matches ” I agree with them (Kathuruh and Wambui). If you visit my Facebook page, you will find clips that highlight deliberate actions by referees to undermine the integrity of the game. The referees intentionally commit mistakes to compromise with the results of a game,” weighed in the Zetech Sparks striker.The three players called on stakeholders to address such challenges to improve the standards of the women’s game in the country in upcoming seasons .
