NAIROBI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Former Harambee Stars player George Owino is among nine people who have been handed long bans by world football governing body FIFA after they were found guilty of match fixing.
Owino has been fined 1.5 million shillings (15,000 U.S. dollars) and will sit in the cold for 10 years.
"The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has found nine individuals - eight players/former players as well as one players' agent - guilty of having been involved in match manipulation in violation of the FIFA Disciplinary Code," said FIFA in a statement on Wednesday.
Owino together with the other eight victims have been banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at both national and international level for life.
Alongside Owino, the others banned are Karlon Murray (Trinidad and Tobago), Keyeno Thomas (Trinidad and Tobago), Hellings Mwakasungula (Malawi), Ibrahim Kargbo (Sierra Leone), Kudzanai Shaba (Zimbabwe), Seidath Tchomogo (Benin), Leonel Duarte (Cuba), and Mohammad Salim Kohistani of Afghanistan.
The formal disciplinary proceedings into the aforementioned individuals stemmed from an extensive investigation into various international matches that Wilson Raj Perumal attempted to manipulate for betting purposes.
This large-scale investigation was conducted by FIFA over several years through its Integrity Department and in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders and authorities.
The decisions were notified to the individuals concerned.
FIFA had accused the Harambee Stars defender of masterminding match manipulation with one "high-profile international match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal," between 2009 and 2011.
From the report, FIFA cited 14 matches which Owino featured in and which they were investigating.
