Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has said he has no sympathy for goalkeeper Patrick Matasi after he was allegedly involved in a case of match-fixing and urged authorities to go after everyone involved in the scandal.Matasi, who has won over 30 international caps for Harambee Stars, was on 27 March suspended by the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) for 90 days, after a viral clip showed him allegedly taking instructions from unknown individuals on how to interfere with the outcome of a match.FKF launches investigation into alleged match-fixing involving goalkeeper Patrick MatasiIn light of the act affecting a once-dependable national team player, McCarthy said he was fortunate not to cross paths with Matasi, having not named him in his first squad that played a pair of 2026 World Cup qualifying matches last month, before the new revelations.Speaking to NTV’s Sport On, the South African coach said, “For me, first of all, there is no room for betting on any football game. I think the reason we play football is because you can’t see yourself doing anything else.It’s something that you have the most passion for, and it’s something that you are exceptionally good at.So for one to betray everything you’ve built and stood for by gambling on losing a football match, for me that’s unthinkable. There is no place for people like that in our sport, and I am glad I never got to cross paths with this player, and he never got to play for me as well.”##NAJAVA_MECA_8831572##With football bodies FIFA and CAF stepping in to offer FKF a helping hand in their investigations, McCarthy said he hoped to see all involved in the act interdicted.“For me, I have no sympathy for whatever punishment comes,” he said. “I hope that the authorities are going after the people who got this player to do that to begin with, because we don’t need these kinds of people in our sport. We have the best sport, and we have the sport that brings the world together. So why do you want to make it a dirty sport by doing that?I have no sympathy for that, and I am ever so sorry that it happened in our sport.”Michael Olunga receives strong backing from coach McCarthyAs currently constructed, Kenya, under its constitution, has no specific laws that bar or criminalize match or spot fixing.What is provided, however, is room for local federations to take action and tame the vice in the meantime.FKF, by invoking one of its statutes – FKF Anti-Match Manipulation Regulations of 2016 – will hope to find sufficient and reasonable evidence that could either lead to a fine or ban for those involved.Is match fixing illegal? FKF asked to invoke own statutes in handling Matasi’s alleged match manipulation
