FKF suspends two players over match-fixing claims

Former Nairobi City Stars players Ezekiel Odera and Salim ‘Shittu’ Abdallah have been suspended by the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) over match-fixing allegations.

This is after they were reported to the federation by City Stars following an internal investigation by the club. Odera, 35, is a striker while Abdallah, 32, is a centre-back.

Their contracts with ‘Simba wa Nairobi’ lapsed last Friday. FKF said it has launched an investigation into the matter after City Stars presented its integrity department with evidence on the allegations.

 According to a source at the club, who spoke to Nation Sport on condition of anonymity, the duo allegedly attempted to manipulate their second leg FKF-PL matches against Kariobangi Sharks, Tusker and Kakamega Homeboyz.

Since the two players were not regular starters in the team at that time, they allegedly approached two teammates to help fix the match, promising them Sh200,000 each in every deal that went through.

City Stars was expected to lose the matches by more than three goals. But the deal collapsed after the two players who had allegedly been approached by the veteran players reported the matter to the team officials.

In the return leg matches, City Stars beat Sharks 2-1 at Moi International Sport Centre, Kasarani Annex on April 22, before battling to a barren draw with Homeboyz four days later at the same venue.

City Stars registered a similar result against Tusker on May 3 at Ruaraka Grounds. The source said the club suspended the players immediately after receiving the information and launched investigations into the matter.

“They were not playing regularly at that time, so for the deal to go through, they had to involve the boys who were playing regularly,” said the source.

“They approached two players and they are the ones who reported the matter to the club officials. In the deal, City Stars was to lose each of the three matches by over 2.5 goals each.”

It is the fourth attempt in a span of three years involving the club's matches.

Speaking on NTV’s live sports show, SportOn on February 20, City Stars Chief Executive Officer Patrick Korir said that there was an unsuccessful attempt  in 2021 by an unknown individual to bribe his players with $10,000. The players were to fix their FKF-PL match against Nzoia Sugar that was held at Narok Stadium.

However, the deal fell flat after the players reported the matter to the club officials.

The other incident happened just minutes before they faced Kenya Police in another FKF-PL match at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani Annex on February 8 this year.

The CEO disclosed that someone, who identified himself as a president of a betting company in Turkey contacted him via WhatApp and requested him to share beforehand the results of the contest, so that they could have the match on their betting platform.

Korir said he stopped engaging the person when he learnt that he was attempting to lure him to manipulate the match.  

On March 10, police arrested three match fixing suspects at Roysambu area in Nairobi after they were set up by former footballer Festo Omukoto and eight City Stars players, whom they had approached to help fix their FKF-PL match against Sofapaka at Ruaraka Grounds in Nairobi on March 11.

The suspects were Russian Akhiad Kubiev, Ugandan Bernard Nabende and Kenyan Martin Munga.The players were to pocket a sum of Sh1.8 million if the deal went through.

But as part of the ploy, they were to receive Sh30,000 each through Mpesa as transport to the match’s venue. The three suspects were set free after they paid Sh200,000 fine each. Odera and Abdallah add to the long list of footballer stakeholders who have since been suspended over match fixing allegations.

By February this year, the federation was investigating a total of 17 players over match fixing allegations.

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