Kenya can now dare to dream hosting 2024 Chan

Caf president Patrice Motsepe talks to outgoing Sports CS Kipchumba Murkomen, PS Peter Tum, Local Organising Committee chairman Nicholas Musonye and FKF president Hussein Mohammed after inspecting Kasarani Stadium. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Finally, Kenya can dare to dream co-hosting the 2024 Africa Nations Championships (Chan) with Uganda and Tanzania, come next year.

This is after the country got assurance from Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe when he inspected the earmarked venues for the second time this year yesterday. He started with Kasarani Stadium followed by Kasarani Annex, met President William Ruto at State House-Nairobi, then toured Ulinzi Sports Complex and Police Sacco Stadium before addressing the media at Nyayo Stadium. Motsepe, who began his visit with Tanzania on Thursday, then flew to Uganda on the same mission.

Even though the continental boss exuded confidence in the region staging a successful and historic event involving local-based players slated for February 1-28, 2025, time is clearly not on Kenya's side in terms of preparedness. The deadline has been extended from December 31 to mid-January 2025.

While Nyayo (30,000 capacity) is in a pole position to host the tournament as they only need to fix lighting, grass and painting for now, Kasarani (60,000 capacity) which was closed for renovations in December 2023 is well behind schedule and needs a lot of work with roofing and grass the biggest nightmare. But the three training grounds Ulinzi Sports Complex, Police Sacco and Annex look to be perfectly in good shape for the 19-team tournament that will act as a dry run for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) to be co-hosted by the three East African nations.

This is not the first time Kenya has found itself in such an awkward situation. In 1996, the country lost the hosting rights of the Afcon to South Africa before being stripped of the hosting rights of the 2018 Chan due to a lack of standardised facilities as the competition went to Morocco.

Massive approval

However, despite looking disturbed and raising issue with the newly planted grass and roofing timelines at Kasarani during the tour, Motsepe who was accompanied by his vice president Seidou Mbombo Njoya and Secretary General Veron Mosengo-Omba among other officials, said he was pleased with the progress so far.

"I leave Kenya with even more confidence and excitement that indeed there is huge progress. Like in any other huge undertaking of this nature, there are always challenges including the hosting of Fifa World Cup. So, the conclusion for me is that although we have had challenges, huge progress has been made to deal with those challenges," said Motsepe.

"I'm confident that the next time I will be here in Kenya will be for Chan. There are 19 countries from all over the continent that will be coming here. Therefore, we are going to have the most successful Chan in the history of this competition.

"I don't want to talk much about Afcon because 2027 is still a few years down the line. But what makes me proud is this level of commitment and passion to make sure that the stadiums, infrastructure, facilities and training fields are ready for February. I have no doubt that preparations for the 2027 Afcon will equally be successful. My focus and the rest of the continent for now is February."

While thanking Motsepe for his relentless support, outgoing Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, who has since been appointed Interior and National Administration CS, said the government is doing everything possible to ensure they host a memorable tournament next year.

"We appreciate your personal support and office in making sure we have been put under immense pressure to ensure that we deliver Chan on time. We are going to deploy all resources within our capacity to ensure we host the tournament," said Murkomen.

Construction ongoing at Kasarani National Stadium when CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe inspected the facility on December 20, 2024 during his visit of the country ahead of 2025 African Nations Championship (CHAN). [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Murkomen's sentiments were echoed by newly elected Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Hussein Mohammed, who said his Local Organising Committee (LOC) is burning midnight oil to make Kenyans proud.

"I'm very excited to see the progress across all infrastructure. We are more than delighted to get the assurance and support of our President William Ruto and CAF president (Motsepe) for his dedication and commitment that we have seen over the last couple of months. We are going to be ready for this event, and put on one of the best shows that the continent has ever seen. This will be a critical launchpad for us towards Afcon 2027 and we will make everyone proud. We have to show the rest of the world that we are upto the task," said Mohammed.

The briefing was graced by Sports Permanent Secretary Peter Tum, LOC chairman Nicholas Musonye, Chan/Afcon secretariat boss Mike Rabar and FKF vice president McDonald Mariga among other officials.