Anyone caught fixing or manipulating sporting competitions in Kenya now faces the prospect of jail time, hefty fines and a lifetime ban from sport or regulated gaming, after the National Assembly passed the Sports (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which for the first time makes match manipulation a specific criminal offence.
Sponsored by nominated MP Irene Nyakerario Mayaka, the Bill amends the Sports Act, 2013, to close what lawmakers described as a long-standing gap in Kenya’s legal framework.
It creates a new offence; anyone who takes part in, directly or indirectly, or who aids, enables or assists in manipulating a sports competition, faces up to one year in prison, a fine of up to Sh1 million, or both on conviction.
Where the offender is a professional athlete or a club, the Bill allows for additional consequences beyond the courtroom, including forfeiting the match in question, being barred from a separate competition to protect its integrity, or facing a lifetime ban from sport or regulated gaming imposed by the relevant regulatory body. Any proceeds or benefits gained through manipulation are also subject to forfeiture.
The Bill defines manipulation broadly, covering anyone who offers, gives, solicits or receives an undue advantage, financial or otherwise, intended to improperly influence the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of a competition.
That net extends to conspiring to fix an outcome, deliberately underperforming to secure a pre-arranged result, misusing insider information for betting or manipulation purposes, and facilitating, inducing or threatening someone else to manipulate a competition.
To enforce the new rules, the Bill widens the mandate of Sports Kenya, the sector’s regulatory body, giving it the power to receive reports from anyone who suspects manipulation and to investigate such claims in collaboration with other investigative agencies. Investigations must be concluded within six months of a report being received, and anyone implicated retains the right to appeal.
The legislation marks a significant shift from the existing law. Under the current Sports Act, match-fixing falls under Section 64, which carries a maximum fine of Sh500,000 and up to three years in prison.
The new provision, Section 64A, roughly doubles the maximum fine but reduces the maximum custodial sentence to one year, a trade-off that featured prominently in parliamentary debate. Several MPs argued that the financial penalty still falls short of what is needed to deter offenders: Nyando MP Jared Okello said he would push an amendment to raise the fine to Sh5 million, telling the House, “I will push an amendment that we can move it (fine) from Sh1 million to Sh5 million. Everybody should play by the rules.”
Mombasa Woman Representative Mohammed Zamzam and Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi voiced similar concerns during the debate, with Elachi arguing that only stringent penalties would meaningfully discourage bribery and dishonesty in sport.
Mwingi West MP Charles Nguna, who backed the Bill, pointed out that Kenya’s existing Penal Code offers little specific protection against match manipulation. “The Penal Code (Cap 63) covers general fraud like cheating, but has no dedicated match-fixing provision. MP Irene Mayaka did extensive research in countries like Italy and Brazil,” he said.
He added that Kenya has lagged behind international standards on the issue: “In Brazil, any involvement with match manipulation amounts to two to six years in prison, but here in Kenya, we don’t have such safeguards. We are proposing these legislative amendments to align with international standards and bring integrity back to our sports fraternity.”
During the debate, Mayaka also pointed to the Macolin Convention, an international treaty that calls for cooperation between governments, sports bodies and betting operators to detect and punish manipulation, and cited Italy’s criminalisation of match-fixing as a model worth following.
She grounded the case for the Bill in Kenya’s own recent history with the problem, referencing multiple attempts to manipulate Nairobi City Stars matches in the Premier League between 2021 and 2023, including a 2023 case in which police arrested three suspects accused of offering City Stars players money to influence a match. Kenyan football has faced scrutiny over the issue before; FIFA banned four Kenyan players over match-fixing in February 2020.
Football Kenya Federation President Hussein Mohammed welcomed the Bill’s passage, describing it as a victory for the integrity of the game and saying it would strengthen ongoing efforts to protect Kenyan sport from manipulation.
The Bill now awaits presidential assent before it can become law.
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