The Sports (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to criminalise practices that compromise the fairness and credibility of competitions . [File, Standard]
The passing of the Sports (Amendment) Bill, 2026 could not have come at a more important time for Kenyan sport.
For years, match-fixing has cast a shadow over competitions, particularly football, where questions over suspicious results and betting-related interference have affected the FKF Premier League, National Super League and lower-tier competitions.
The new law offers Kenyan sport an opportunity to begin a serious clean-up. It creates a clear definition of competition manipulation, covering bribery, deliberately underperforming, fixing results and using inside information for betting.
Sports Kenya will also have powers to receive reports and investigate suspected cases, while the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) will handle appeals.
This matters because sport is built on trust.
A fan who pays to watch a football match wants to believe that both teams are fighting to win. A sponsor wants to know that its money is supporting a genuine competition. Players want their hard work to decide their careers. Once that trust disappears, everyone loses.