African football is increasingly under scrutiny regarding match manipulation, as disciplinary cases and organized crime reveal the deficiencies in current integrity systems.
Moses Swaibu, a former professional footballer and the founder of sports integrity technology firm GC360, shares his insights from 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."
Swaibu, who has worked with organizations including FIFA, UEFA, the FA, the Premier League, and the PFA on integrity education, cautions against drawing conclusions from rising alert volumes, stating, "Rising alert volumes do not automatically mean rising manipulation. They often mean monitoring is getting better."
He emphasizes that while detection infrastructure is improving rapidly across Africa, the systems to prevent manipulation lag behind. "What we can say with confidence is that the infrastructure to detect manipulation is strengthening in Africa faster than the infrastructure to prevent it," he notes, warning that the syndicates targeting African football are not merely local opportunists. "They are international, sophisticated and they understand the market."
In Uganda, significant concerns have emerged regarding organized crime. The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) provisionally suspended 13 individuals in June 2024 while investigating a suspected multi-match-fixing scheme. This investigation, supported by FIFA, has revealed links to an athletic syndicate from South Africa believed to have approached referees, players, and administrators to target seven matches between October and November 2023, primarily within the second and women’s divisions.
FUFA legal manager Denis Lukambi reported that, "99% of the fixing activity was betting related, with money placed in Uganda and abroad." FIFA later extended global sanctions against seven Ugandans already penalized domestically; five players received five-year bans, and two referees were banned for ten years.
The crackdown continued with further disciplinary actions in November 2024, when FUFA's Ethics and Disciplinary Committee sanctioned an additional 12 people connected to a foreign betting syndicate. These sanctions included a lifetime ban for one individual, while the others faced bans varying from one to ten years. In June 2026, FUFA's Ethics and Disciplinary Committee found four players and a club administrator guilty of manipulating a match between Lugazi FC and Buhimba United Saints that ended with a 5-2 scoreline. Feni Ali, a former player, received a lifetime ban for acting as an intermediary between players and match-fixers.
Swaibu highlights financial vulnerability as the primary entry point for fixers. "The entry point is always the same. It is not greed. It is financial vulnerability," he explains, noting that a player or referee struggling to pay rent is much easier to recruit than one who is financially secure.
He points out that this issue is prevalent in lower divisions, stating that while high-profile leagues receive attention, fixing often occurs in less visible competitions: "The top flight gets the attention, but the fixing happens in the lower divisions. The second divisions, the women’s leagues, the youth competitions."
He references Burundi, where players were enticed with ten-fold salary offers, resulting in five-year bans for six players and a director involved in underperforming. The president of Burundi’s competition committee, Yussuf Mossi, remarked, "If you are receiving ten times your salary, how can you not take it?"
In Mali, the Malian Football Federation (FEMAFOOT) has referred a June 10 match between Afrique Football Elite and AS Korofina to its Independent Ethics Commission due to integrity concerns. FEMAFOOT stated that its ethics body would review the evidence but has yet to determine any match manipulation allegations against the clubs or individuals involved.
Meanwhile, Kenya is looking to enhance its legal framework regarding match-fixing. The Sports (Amendment) Bill, 2026, sponsored by Irene Mayaka, passed the National Assembly on August 19 after MPs reinforced the proposed framework to address manipulation in sports competitions. This bill aims to amend the Sports Act 2013 and would broadly define manipulation to include offering or receiving undue advantage, conspiring to fix results, intentionally underperforming, and utilizing insider information for betting purposes.
If approved as drafted, offenders could face fines of up to three times the value involved or KSh10 million, imprisonment for up to five years, or both. In addition to criminal penalties, relevant sports organizations would retain their separate disciplinary powers, such as suspensions, bans, and deregistration. Clubs may also face match outcome forfeiture if their members were implicated in any manipulation.
The bill is currently being reviewed in the Senate and requires completion of the legislative process along with presidential approval before becoming law. This proposed legislation follows numerous integrity concerns in Kenyan football, including FIFA's finding in May 2025 that Muhoroni Youth engaged in manipulative practices.
Swaibu notes that players in Kenya have received bans in connection with an international conspiracy. The Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis has indicated that match-fixing issues have infiltrated various levels of the sport—from grassroots to professional leagues.
Patrick Korir, chief executive of Nairobi City Stars, welcomed the proposed legal reforms but cautioned that legislation alone cannot 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 stated.
Swaibu added that Kenya Football Federation president, Hussein Mohammed, is working to resolve salary arrears for match officials "precisely so that there is no excuse when it comes to remuneration." He believes, "That is prevention done properly. If you are not paying your referees, you are not protecting your competition."
These challenges are not exclusive to African football; cross-border betting and the technology facilitating this movement create integrity issues globally. However, significant progress is being made. Uganda utilizes football disciplinary procedures, Mali relies on its independent ethics process, and Kenya is exploring criminal sanctions alongside sporting penalties.
Swaibu asserts that manipulated matches harm more than just the result; they undermine confidence in the entire sports market. "Leagues, broadcasters, sponsors, and bettors depend on the reality of the underlying product. As African betting volumes rise, so does the need to protect them. That is why I believe integrity must be a formal component of licensing across the continent, not merely an optional addition. Regulators should enforce integrity monitoring from the outset of market development rather than retrofitting it later." Although suspicious bets can cross borders in seconds, disciplinary and criminal actions often take months or years. The key challenge for African sports is ensuring that legislative and regulatory bodies can keep pace.
