The Government plans to impose criminal penalties - including possible jail terms - on individuals caught match-fixing, the Sports Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke has said.

Kenyan football has been rocked by match-fixing in the recent past with tens of players and officials including coaches punished by FIFA.

Two weeks ago, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) suspended 14 players and two coaches for match-fixing after receiving a tip-off about cheating in the domestic leagues.

Among those suspended were six players from Zoo Kericho FC, which was found guilty of match-fixing by FIFA’s integrity unit in 2021 and as a result expelled from the FKF Premier League.

One player from reigning Kenyan champions Tusker was also suspended pending the completion of an ongoing investigation.

“We will work with the Registrar of Sports and the federations to stop this vice just like we did with the doping menace in the athletics where we called Athletics Kenya (AK), the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the DCI, the police department and the immigration department and we agreed to stop the vice same will happen with match fixing," Mueke said.

Last year in April, former President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law an anti-doping bill that criminalised doping.