Nyayo stadium will be ready to host international football matches in two weeks – PS Tum

Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi will be ready to host the 2024 African Nations Championship (Chan) in the next two weeks, Sports Principal Secretary Peter Tum has said. 

He also revealed that the Confederation of Africa Football (Caf) has directed the government to increase the training venues for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) from three to four.  

The PS spoke on Tuesday evening after inspecting the ongoing refurbishment of Nyayo National Stadium.

Kenya will co-host this year’s Chan expected to be held around September and the 2027 Afcon with neighbours Uganda and Tanzania.

“Chan is already taken care of in terms of preparations. This field will be ready in a month. We only have two weeks for them to complete. We have inspected what we had been given to meet in terms of requirements and let me promise you that even if Chan was to be held next month or the month after that we are quite ready,” said Tum.

Only players competing in their national leagues feature in Chan. 

Former Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba said in April that Nyayo National Stadium was picked as the primary venue for the Chan matches.

Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega was initially earmarked to stage matches.

Inferior standards

Nyayo National Stadium and Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) were banned by CAF in 2021 because of inferior standards.

Some of the requirements that Nyayo National Stadium needs to fulfil are; functioning floodlights, a world-class playing surface, changing rooms and a media centre situated on level three.

“I want to tell Kenyans that this government is focused on ensuring that we host Afcon and Chan. We must prepare accordingly,” said the PS.

He said that the CAF inspection team that was in the country at the weekend was ready to approve Nyayo National Stadium to host international matches. 

Because of the current situation, Harambee Stars were forced to host their 2026 World Cup Group “F” qualifiers against reigning African champions Cote d’Ivoire and Burundi at Bingu National Stadium in Malawi in June. Kenya drew 1-1 with Burundi before battling to a barren draw with Cote d’Ivoire.

There is fear that Kenyan champions Gor Mahia and Kenya Police who qualified to represent the county in the 2024/25 Caf Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively will play their home matches away from home.

Regarding the 2027 Afcon, Tum said that contractors had made the assurance all the facilities earmarked for the tournament would be ready by December 2025.

He said the refurbishment of MISC is at 40 per cent complete. Talanta Sports City Stadium, a 60,000-seater behemoth, is under construction in Nairobi.

Speaking before the National Assembly on Committee for Sports, Culture and Tourism on March 5, Tum revealed that the stadium will be built under a Public-Private Partnership. 

The PS, however, could not say how much the stadium and related infrastructure would cost despite being hard-pressed by the MPs.

He requested time to give the specific details in writing to the committee after consulting the Ministry of Defence which is overseeing the project.