Nairobi — Sports Principal Secretary Peter Tum has given a boost of optimism to Kenya's representatives in Continental football, Gor Mahia and Kenya Police FC, as well as the national football team Harambee Stars over the availability of the Nyayo Stadium for international matches.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) last week released a list of match venues which have been approved, and Kenya had none, with both Nyayo and Kasarani closed down for renovations.
Without an approved stadium, Gor, who will play in the CAF Champions League, and Kenya Police, who make their debut in the CAF Confederation Cup, would be forced to host their home matches outside the country.
Harambee Stars, also, for the second time, would have been forced to play home matches away from the country, with the qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) starting in September. Kenya hosted its two World Cup qualifiers in Malawi last month.
CAF Officials were in the country over the weekend, to inspect the ongoing works towards the 2027 AFCON, and Tum says they had a discussion over the approval of Nyayo.
Ready in two weeks
"Over the next two weeks, Nyayo will be ready. We had a checklist that they (CAF) had given us in terms of requirements and we are working towards that. We discussed the issue of Nyayo at length and one of the promises they made was that if we move with the same speed, approval is almost guaranteed. We are very positive that we will have our qualifiers at Nyayo," Tum said.
The CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup are both scheduled to start on the weekend of 16-18 August, with Gor kicking off away from home against South Sudan's Al Merrikh Bentiu while Police will be at home against Ethiopia Coffee.
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The Harambee Stars are meanwhile scheduled to host Zimbabwe in match day one of the 2025 AFCON qualifiers on September 2, host Cameroon on October 15 and then Namibia exactly a month later.
AFCON 2027 preps in top gear
Meanwhile, Tum says preparations for the 2027 AFCON hosting are in place, with work at both the Kasarani and newly constructed Talanta City Stadium in Jamhuri expected to be completed by December 2025.
"The message we got from CAF is that we are doing well. We are at 35pc completion rate and in most of the areas, we should be done and ready by 2025. They (CAF) have been impressed with the speed at which we are working," said Tum.
The Talanta City Stadium is being built from scratch while the Kasarani Stadium is undergoing major renovations around the roof, lighting, dressing rooms, media tribune as well as the VIP dias.
At the same time, Tum has disclosed that the Ulinzi Sports Complex has also been drafted into the AFCON 2027 party, and will be used as a referee training ground, a new requirement by CAF.
