Kenya's Zoo FC hit back at Fifa match manipulation sanctions - BBC News

Kenyan Premier League club Zoo FC say they will appeal Fifa's decision to relegate them to the second division after being found guilty of match manipulation.

Zoo FC owner Kennedy Ochieng told BBC Sport Africa they will file the appeal as a matter of urgency because the league is set to resume on Wednesday 12 May.

Kenya's government lifted a coronavirus-related ban on sports over the weekend.

The club will seek a stay of execution on the verdict to allow them to continue in the 18-team league, where they currently lie bottom.

On Tuesday, Fifa revealed it had found the club guilty of manipulating matches in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL).

"The decision to sanction Zoo FC is related to a series of (KPL) matches deemed to have been manipulated between 2018 and 2020 by individuals belonging to the club, as a consequence of which the club has been held responsible for the behaviour of its members," said Fifa.

Ochieng, however, argues the club were whistleblowers after he sacked a total of seven players between the same period because of suspicions of match-fixing.

"We are the ones who reported the issue and sought help from the federation because our national penal code does not cover match-fixing," Ochieng told BBC Sport Africa.

"Fifa's own investigation did not get any evidence against these individual players who are no longer with my team, so why punish my players now who had nothing to do with these guys?"

In a statement, Zoo FC said it believed the KPL games under investigation to be Zoo's trip to Sofapaka FC in January 2019 and another away game, this time at Wazito FC, in March 2020.

"It is our belief that the [Fifa] report was inadequate and its findings doubtful," Zoo FC added in their statement. "We … are confident our appeal shall be successful."

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has acknowledged the Fifa sanctions and said it is preparing to restart the league without Zoo FC.

The FKF president Nick Mwendwa added: "There are Fifa systems for testing manipulation and I cannot say it is a big problem in Kenyan football."

Zoo FC's owner insists he will fight the verdict all the way to sports highest ruling court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, if he fails at FIFA's appeal committee.

The club, which was founded in 2009 and took its name from a children's TV cartoon series, have until 14 May to request the full reasoning for the decision from Fifa.

Last year four players from another Kenyan club, Kakamega Home Boyz, were handed bans by Fifa for manipulating matches.

Ugandan George Mandela was handed a life-time ban while three of his Kenyan team-mates Moses Chikati, Festus Okiring and Festo Omukoto were handed four-year suspensions for their part in the manipulation.

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