The concluded 2024 -2025 Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) season was dominated by interesting and intriguing events, making it one of the best in recent years.Three teams managed to stretch the league title race to the penultimate round, while the relegation battle was decided on the final day, with four teams fighting desperately to beat the drop.Follow our WhatsApp channel for more newsThe race for the ‘Golden Boot’ and that of the ‘Golden Glove’ were decided in the final rounds of the season, underscoring how competitive the campaign was.Besides the races for the titles on offer, great goals were scored, crucial saves and tackles made, defence-splitting passes whipped, thrilling fan support witnessed, and all manner of positive events unfolded in the season.##NAJAVA_MECA_9009565##There was everything to watch for in the season that saw Kenya Police FC break the near-decade-long dominance by Gor Mahia and Tusker, by winning their first league title, four years after promotion to the top-tier.However, a disturbing phenomenon emerged in one of the clearest ways, blowing wide open what was otherwise considered an open secret, and serving stakeholders a reminder of how difficult the task of cleaning and restoring the integrity of the game is.For long, Kenyans suspected that certain individuals were possibly raking in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of shillings from match manipulation in the top-tier and perhaps other competitions.Match-fixing suspects could soon cost FKF millions in compensationBefore the season got underway, football enthusiasts could only read and interact with press statements from the federation’s Integrity wing suspending players and officials for the vice.However, some of the incidents that emerged in the recently concluded term might have perhaps exposed the tip of the iceberg and confirmed the long-held fear that fear that the vice is deeply rooted in the league.Patrick Matasi’s suspension from football activitiesNot many can remember what happened in Kenyan football circles in March, but it is easy to recall that it was during that period that FKF suspended seasoned goalkeeper Patrick Matasi.FKF suspended Matasi from all sanctioned events for 90 days, per Section VII (2) of the Anti-Manipulation Regulations (2016), after a secretly recorded video clip suggested his involvement in match manipulation.The player swiftly challenged the decision at the Kakamega High Court, but was not to be allowed back on the pitch, given the pressure from stakeholders, among other reasons.Before the clip emerged, questions had been raised about some of the goals he had conceded, both at the national team, Harambee Stars, and at the club level.Shimanyula stands by Patrick Matasi in wake of spot-fixing allegationMatasi, a seasoned goalkeeper with over a decade of experience in the FKFPL, has never come out to deny his alleged involvement in the vice, or clarified whether he is the one captured attempting to fix an unspecified match.The clip, released by CAF-trained Safety and Security Officer, Kiarie Mbugua, opened the floodgates for others, featuring players with top-flight experience allegedly accepting to throw away matches for financial gain.Kakamega Homeboyz warned against fielding Patrick MatasiThe fate of the rest of the players exposed by Mbugua remains unknown, although Mozzart Sport understands that FIFA and CAF requested FKF to help in investigating them, along with Matasi, back in April.Did a suspended goalkeeper enable match fixing?This is the question that crossed the minds of football stakeholders after an audio clip emerged of former FC Talanta goalkeeper Kevin Olang’o allegedly attempting to fix a league match.In the clip, released in January, Olang’o was widely reported to have urged a Posta Rangers goalkeeper to let in a certain number of goals in their league tie against Gor Mahia in exchange for a financial reward.Interestingly, Olang’o was suspended from all football activities over his alleged involvement in match fixing in May 2024, along with three referees and a club official.“They rushed without evidence”- Shimanyula blasts FKF over Matasi’s suspensionThe big question remains: how many more players might Olang’o have successfully reached with a lucrative offer? Could he and some of the suspended players be agents of the vice? Who might their accomplices be? And are there mechanisms in place to fully enforce the suspensions from football activities?Win for Lennox OgutuWhile some were nabbed attempting to pre-determine the outcome of a match, for personal gains, central defender Lennox Ogutu had everything to celebrate after he successfully appealed the decision to suspend him from football activities and received a clean bill of health.Although his story is not entirely linked to last season’s cases of match manipulation in the top tier, it is important to recall that the player was suspended when he was playing in the competition in Mathare United colours.Ogutu was suspended in February 2023 by FKF on suspicion that he was involved in match fixing.However, he made history by becoming the first Kenyan player in recent times to be cleared of the accusation, after securing a favorable ruling at the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS).Former Mathare defender wins case against match fixing suspensionOgutu turned to CAS on 19 September 2024, after unsuccessfully attempting to find out the status of his case with FKF four times, with the Switzerland-based court ruling in his favour.Consequently, Ogutu returned to football in the February mid-season transfer window when he signed for the then second-tier club Nairobi United.The former national U23 team defender helped the club win the National Super League (NSL) title and the Mozzart Bet Cup.He is expected to return to the top tier and make his CAF Confederation Cup debut in the new season.Although we can not conclude that these were isolated cases during the season, some of the scorelines, goals conceded, positioning, decisions by players and officials raised eyebrows.##NAJAVA_MECA_9009724##In conclusion, stakeholders are looking to the new regime to work with Parliament and pass laws criminalising the vice.When Hussein Mohammed was declared the new FKF President on 7 December last year, in his first engagement with the media, he reiterated his desire to uproot match fixing from Kenyan football.Hopefully, there will be a different approach going into the new season, and that all and sundry will join hands in sealing the loopholes and breeding grounds of the practice
