Kenya: Ochieng Caught

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

Sulubu Tuva

27 May 2011

Kenyan becomes 12th player implicated in widening match-fixing scandal in Finland

A former Kenya national team goalkeeper Willis Ochieng is at the centre of a bribery and match-fixing probe in Finland. In a mushrooming ongoing match-fixing probe in Finland, IFK Maiehamn manager Petter Mattson claimed the Kenyan is thought to have pocketed Sh6.0m ($70,500). The Kenyan becomes the 12th player suspected of being involved in this neferious activity in that country’s football league.

The bribe was allegedly in connection with two away games the club lost in September and October last year. According to news agency reports, the club chairman is quoted saying: “We wondered why he let in a couple of easy goals, but he just apologised and promised to try harder. He was a good goalie.”

Ochieng who joined the Finnish side in August 2007 is said to have left the club at the end of the 2010 season. Finnish Police suspect Wilson Raj Perumal, a Singaporean man who is currently in jail, could be the ring leader. He is thought to have paid money to players in the Finnish league from 2008 to the current season. The Singaporean was placed in custody on arrival in the country in February this year because of faulty identity papers. The man has been linked to former players from another club suspected of accepting bribes. Charges against him and nine players will be read next month. Perumal faces a two-year prison sentence if he is found guilty.

Two Zambian brothers, Donewell and Dominic Yobe who played for Finnish team AC Oulu and were found guilty of accepting $ 70,997 (Sh6.0m) in bribes to influence the outcome of a game last year have also been linked with Perumal. The Zambians received suspended sentences after admitting they played “below their normal level” during a 5-0 loss toTPS. Perumal has also been linked to fixing matches involving Zimbabwe’s national team in the Orient.

The Singaporean is also thought to be behind the fake Togo team that played a match in Bahrain and lost 3-0. According to news agency reports Maiehamn manager has expressed surprise at the levels of match fixing in a country where football is not a particularly popular sport. “We’ve never seen anything like this before, I’m very, very disappointed,” he said, but added that it was good to solve the issue. “Maybe some good has come from it after all. It will make us all the more vigilant in the future,” Mattson said. Finnish police said they will spread their investigation to include “other foreign fixers” of matches but declined to give details pending results of the probe.

AllAfrica – All the Time