Nick Mwendwa, chairman of the embattled Kenya Football Federation (FKF), was brought to court on Monday to face corruption charges and walked free.
Nick Mwendwa, head of the FKF since 2016, is accused of transferring 8.5 million Kenyan shillings (66,000 euros) belonging to the federation to his own bank account without any written justification.
Prosecutors have asked for Mwendwa to be held in custody for 14 days while they complete their investigation, but a magistrate ordered the executive, who had spent the weekend in police custody, to be released on bail pending a further hearing on Wednesday.
However, under the ruling, Mwendwa was denied access to the FKF offices and banned from all football-related activities. In particular, he was not allowed to attend the World Cup 2022 qualifying match between Kenya and Rwanda on Monday.
Kenya’s sports minister, Amina Mohamed, said a government investigation had revealed that the federation had misappropriated some of the money paid by the state and other sponsors. She announced a further investigation on Thursday that could lead to further prosecutions.