African football is increasingly facing pressure to enhance its strategies against match manipulation, as recent disciplinary cases and concerns about organized crime expose flaws in the current integrity systems.
Moses Swaibu, a former professional player and now the founder and CEO of the sports integrity technology firm GC360, shares insights from his experience. "I speak from experience. I was a professional footballer who was recruited, and then I did the recruiting. I know how the grooming works because I did it," he says.
Swaibu, whose work in integrity education includes collaborations with FIFA, UEFA, the FA, the Premier League, and the PFA, emphasizes the need for caution when evaluating figures related to suspicious activity. "Rising alert volumes do not automatically mean rising manipulation. They often mean monitoring is getting better," he explains. He observes that the capacity to detect manipulation in Africa is improving more rapidly than the measures in place to prevent it.
He warns that the syndicates targeting African football are not merely local opportunists. "They are international, sophisticated, and they understand the market," Swaibu states.
In Uganda, the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) provisionally suspended 13 individuals in June 2024 during a probe of a suspected multi-match-fixing scheme. This investigation, which benefited from FIFA's support, identified a syndicate based in South Africa that allegedly approached referees, players, and administrators, targeting seven matches between October and November 2023 across Uganda’s men's second division and women's football.
FUFA legal manager Denis Lukambi indicated that 99% of the fixing activity was related to betting, with money changing hands in Uganda and internationally. Following this, FIFA extended global sanctions against seven Ugandan individuals who had already faced domestic disciplinary actions, with five players receiving five-year bans and two referees getting ten-year bans.
FUFA continued its anti-manipulation efforts into November 2024, when the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee sanctioned another 12 individuals connected to a foreign betting syndicate. Their penalties ranged from one-year to lifetime bans.
In June 2026, RUFA's Ethics and Disciplinary Committee found four players and a club administrator guilty of manipulating a Uganda Premier League match that ended with a 5-2 scoreline between Lugazi FC and Buhimba United Saints. Former player Feni Ali received a lifetime ban for acting as a liaison between players and match-fixers.
Swaibu notes that financial vulnerability is the main entry point for fixers. "The entry point is always the same. It is not greed. It is financial vulnerability," he asserts. He reflects on patterns he recognized from his experiences in England, highlighting that while the top tier garners attention, match-fixing occurs primarily in lower divisions and other less publicized competitions.
He refers to the 2024 case in Uganda and mentions Burundi, where financial incentives heavily influenced the actions of players. "Burundi issued five-year bans to six players and a director after deliberately underperforming players were paid ten times their salary," he shares.
In Mali, the Malian Football Federation (FEMAFOOT) has referred a June 10 Ligue 1 match involving Afrique Football Elite and AS Korofina to its Independent Ethics Commission due to integrity concerns. FEMAFOOT stated that the ethics body would review the evidence but has not yet found any party guilty of manipulation.
Kenya is also seeking to enhance its legal framework regarding match-fixing with the Sports (Amendment) Bill, 2026, sponsored by Irene Mayaka. Passed by the National Assembly on August 19, the bill aims to amend the Sports Act of 2013 to clarify various forms of manipulation, including offering undue advantages, conspiring to fix results, and using insider info for betting. Under the proposed law, violations could lead to fines, prison sentences, or both, in addition to separate disciplinary measures from relevant sports organizations.
This legislation is a response to ongoing integrity issues in Kenyan football, including FIFA's findings in May 2025, which implicated the club Muhoroni Youth in match manipulation activities as part of an international conspiracy. Swaibu cited warnings from the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis about how deeply ingrained match-fixing has become, affecting various levels of the sport.
Nairobi City Stars chief executive Patrick Korir welcomed the proposed reforms but cautioned that laws alone would not suffice to eradicate match manipulation. "There are clubs that have actually shut down because of this vice. Nairobi City Stars right now we are just at the edge whether to continue or just stop playing because there’s no safe space for the investment," Korir said.
Swaibu noted that the Kenya Football Federation president, Hussein Mohammed, is addressing issues by working to eliminate salary arrears for match officials, emphasizing that timely payment is crucial for maintaining competition integrity. "If you are not paying your referees, you are not protecting your competition," he stated.
The challenge of match-fixing is widespread, with cross-border betting networks complicating enforcement efforts for integrity bodies globally. Despite these challenges, significant strides are being made; Uganda has utilized football disciplinary measures, Mali is pursuing integrity through its ethics process, and Kenya is considering criminal penalties alongside sporting sanctions.
Swaibu conveys that manipulated matches harm more than the immediate outcomes, stating, "It erodes confidence in the entire market built around it." As betting volumes in Africa rise, so too does the necessity to ensure integrity. He believes that establishing integrity as a formal requirement in licensing is vital, asserting, "That is the gap we exist to close."
In a landscape where suspicious bets can cross borders in seconds, while legal proceedings can lag for months or years, African sports organizations face the pressing challenge of keeping legislative and sporting reforms in step with evolving threats.
