Complete Chan and Afcon venues on time
What you need to know:
- When Caf president Patrice Motsepe visited the country three weeks ago, he was happy with the progress made.
- Kenya can’t again afford to go through another disconcerting moment after it failed to host 1996 Afcon and 2018 Chan.
It is a race against time for Kenya to have the Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) and the Nyayo National Stadium ready for the African Nations Championship (Chan) that is 20 days away.
The country has been lagging behind in terms of infrastructure readiness since it was picked alongside Tanzania and Uganda to co-host the championship.
The three countries were to use Chan as a prelude to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) that they will also co-host with the continental event set to be staged in the East African region for the first time.
When the Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe visited the country three weeks ago, he was happy with the progress made concerning the two major venues but CAF has not officially cleared the venues.
Lack of proper facilities
While the new Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports, Salim Mvurya assured that the country is on an upward trajectory when he toured the venues on Monday, the country must deliver the venues on time.
When Mvurya toured, engineers had covered a part of the MISC while the playing surface wasn’t ready as yet. The condition of the playing surface at Nyayo was perfect but the floodlight masts had not been erected yet.
With the venues in Uganda and Tanzania having been given the greenlight by Caf, the focus is on Kenya hence the country can’t again afford to go through another disconcerting moment after it failed to host the 1996 Afcon and 2018 Chan due to lack of proper facilities despite winning the bids.
The government must move with haste to jump-start construction at the stalled Kipchoge Keino Stadium and Bukhungu Stadium that have been earmarked for the 2027 Afcon.
