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There has been a surge in the number of match-fixing cases in the country.
With the match-fixing menace slowly getting out of hand in the country, Gor Mahia head coach Johnathan McKinstry has suggested lifetime bans for culprits.
In the past decade, Kenyan football has been ravaged by match-fixing scandals that have seen teams being expelled from leagues, players and coaches being handed bans which turn out to be a slap on the wrist.
The former Uganda Cranes head coach proposed stern penalties for individuals found culpable of the vice as they abuse a privilege envied by many.
"It's a scourge, the punishment should be as severe as it can be for people who are found guilty. People get a two or three-year ban, for me, football is a privilege, the fact that I get to coach K'Ogalo is a huge privilege and there are millions of people who want to do what I do.
Anyone who abuses that privilege should never be allowed to be involved again, not a three or five-year ban because they don't deserve a second chance,” said McKinstry in an interview with NTV.
As recent as last week, Russian Akhiad Kubiev, Ugandan Bernard Navendi, and Kenyan Martin Munga Mutua were arrested for attempting to fix, Nairobi City Stars’ clash against Sofapaka.
The three attempted to recruit Festo Omukoto who was previously banned by FIFA for match-fixing but turned into an ambassador against the vice and revealed that he was instructed to join forces with eight Nairobi City Stars players.
McKinstry however added that rigorous investigations should be conducted before players and coaches are punished for match-fixing as the accusations have a lasting effect.
“We have to make sure that the evidence is also there, I've seen in the past, people who have been accused and have been set aside.
Prior to being the Sierra Leone coach, there were players who were accused and I couldn't select them, five years later there was no tribunal and it went to FIFA who said there was no evidence, then we had six years of a player's career disappear which is unfair,” added McKinstry.
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