Nairobi — Nairobi City Stars Chief Executive Officer Patrick Korir has urged Parliament to speed up the process of formulating tougher legislation to curb match fixing, after three suspects who were arrested last month were handed lenient punishment and released by the Court on Monday.
The three, Russian Akhiad Kubiev, Ugandan Berbard Navendi and Kenyan Martin Munga Mutua were released by the Makadara Law Courts on Monday after paying a Sh100,000 fine each.
They had been arrested on March 10 in an intricate plot orchestrated by City Stars, as they had approached players and officials to try lure them to dix their game against Sofapaka.
They were arrested in Roysambu, along Thika Road. They were later released on bond.
According to Korir, the trio's lawyer Apollo Mboya wrote to the Court to apply for a change of plea and appeared in person on April 25 and was given a hearing date for three days later.
The three then pleaded guilty to the charges (conspiracy to commit a felony contrary to section 393 of the penal code, and cheating contrary to section 315 of the penal code).
According to the Law, each count came with a fine of Sh100,000 each or a jail term of one-and-a-half years each. The amounts were paid three days later and the case has since been closed.
"Given what they were charged with, I guess the options they were handed were based on the applicable penal codes. That said, it takes us back to the conversation of missing legislation when it comes to match fixing in Kenya," Korir told Capital Sports.
With the lenient punishment the three received, Korir believes that it will do little to deter future match fixers, especially now that there are now direct laws that specifically touch on match fixing.
"What it means now is that, other than a public scar on your character, finding and arresting match fixers is a waste of time," Korir said.
He added; "We now urge the National Assembly Committee for Sports to expedite the process of drafting the applicable statutes, for enactment, so that our football, and sports in general, can be saved from unabated manipulation."
Last month, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) was before the Parliamentary Committee, where president Nick Mwendwa made an appeal for the same to be enacted to curb the vice that has threatened to tear down the local game.
