Gor Mahia, Kenya Police and Harambee Stars could still host their upcoming international matches in Kenya if government lives up to its latest promise on Nyayo Stadium.
The government is confident that Kenyan teams will not play their home matches away from the country again as Nyayo Stadium is close to getting approval.
Kenya currently does not have a stadium approved to host international matches and this forced Harambee Stars to play their home matches in Malawi last month.
Confederation of African Football (CAF) also released a list of venues approved to host the upcoming inter-club competitions last weekend and Kenya did not have any, meaning Gor Mahia, who are set to compete in the CAF Champions League, and Kenya Police, the Confederation Cup representatives, will have to look elsewhere.
14:39 - 13.07.2024
Blow to Gor Mahia & Kenya Police as Nyayo Stadium fails to meet CAF requirements to host continental matches
Gor Mahia and Kenya Police have suffered a setback after Nyayo Stadium failed to meet CAF requirements to host the Preliminary rounds of the Champions League and Confederation Cup.
However, Sports Principal Secretary Peter Tum feels that will not be necessary after CAF inspectors, who were in Kenya last week, gave them assurances that Nyayo Stadium will be granted approval in two weeks’ time if the renovation works move with speed.
“We discussed that at length and when we visited this place, one of the promises they told us is that if we moved with the speed that we are already taking, approval is almost guaranteed,” Tum told the media on Monday.
“We are very positive that the approval will be gotten and we will have the qualifiers played in Nyayo.”
17:29 - 13.07.2024
Which countries can Gor Mahia and Kenya Police turn to after Nyayo Stadium failed CAF inspection?
Gor Mahia and Kenya Police will have to seek refuge in neighbouring countries after CAF failed to approve Nyayo Stadium for use during upcoming inter-club competitions.
Tum then enumerated some of the requirements from CAF at Nyayo Stadium while providing a positive update on the preparations.
“The changing rooms are some of the key things they wanted us to do, the media centre changing from level two to level three, a raft of things they demanded and we are quite good in terms of preparations,” he added.
“When we looked at this field with the team that came, they said it is one of the best, the grass and the way it has been maintained is quite good.”
14:42 - 10.07.2024
AFCON 2027: CAF inspectors expected in Nairobi to check Kenya’s progress on match venues
CAF inspectors will be in Nairobi this week to assess the level of preparedness for Kenya ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
The CAF inter-club competitions will take place between August 16 and 23 while Harambee Stars will take on Zimbabwe on September 2 in their opening match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Kenya therefore has one month to convince CAF after it emerged that the list of approved stadia released last week was from a previous inspection and not the latest.
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