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The trio appeared before Principal Magistrate Eric Mûtûnga at Makadara Law Courts on Monday, where they pleaded not guilty to the charges of cheating, which is contrary to Section 315 of the Penal Code.
Three suspects who were arrested on charges of match-fixing in Nairobi have been released on bail by a Kenyan court.
The suspects, Russian national Akhiad Kubiev, Ugandan Bernard Nabende, and Kenyan Martin Munga Mutua, were arrested in Roysambu on Friday night.
The trio appeared before Principal Magistrate Eric Mûtûnga at Makadara Law Courts on Monday, where they pleaded not guilty to the charges of cheating, which is contrary to Section 315 of the Penal Code.
They were released on a bond of Sh300,000 with two sureties of a similar amount.
According to the charges read in court, the suspects, together with others not before the court, conspired to commit a felony, namely cheating by fixing a football match in the Roysambu area within Kasarani sub-county of Nairobi county.
They had allegedly promised to pay City Stars FC players and management Ksh1.8 million ($14,000) each to manipulate their league match against Sofapaka on March 10, 2023.
As part of their plan, the footballers were to receive Ksh30,000 each through Mpesa as transport to the match venue.
The suspects' operation was foiled in a joint operation by the Kenya Police, Nation Media Group, and footballers attached to Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League side City Stars.
The suspects, who allegedly bragged to the police that they are “well connected” before attempting to bribe them with Ksh1 million, admitted to have infiltrated several local clubs.
According to reports, Festo Omukoto, a former footballer, and seven Nairobi City Stars players set up the trio after approaching them to help fix their FKF-PL match against Sofapaka.
The suspects had been asking Omukoto for the past month to connect them with City Stars players they could recruit into the match-fixing scheme.
Omukoto informed City Stars Chief Executive Officer Patrick Korir, who together with the club's coordinator Samson Otieno and the seven players decided to lay a trap for the suspects.
The suspects allegedly instructed City Stars to concede a goal in the opening 10 minutes and go for the breather trailing 1-0.
Between the 70th and 78th minute, the suspects were to make another live bet that City Stars was going to concede two more goals in the last 10 minutes of the game.
If City Stars scored a goal, Sofapaka was required to add another. However, law enforcers arrested the suspects before the game took place.
Festo Omukoto was among the four local players banned by FIFA from taking part in any football-related activity for four years in 2020 after being found guilty of match-fixing.
Festus Okiring and Moses Chikati were also banned for four years, while Ugandan George Mandela was banned for life. Omukoto has maintained his innocence and says he did not want other footballers to face the same predicament.
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