Photos: Semafor Africa\Wikimedia Commons
Kenya is in a race against time to get its stadiums ready for two of the continent’s biggest football events — CHAN 2025 next February, and AFCON 2027. Both tournaments are set to be hosted jointly by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Confederation of African Football President (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe was in Nairobi this week to inspect the ongoing works, and acknowledged there was still “a lot of work to be done” ahead of CHAN — the continental competition for players based in local leagues.
For CHAN, Kenya is undertaking major upgrades on its largest stadium, the 60,000-seater Moi International Sports Complex Kasarani in Nairobi. The 30,000-capacity Nyayo stadium in western Nairobi is also being upgraded. The government is also constructing a 60,000-seater stadium and sports complex on the outskirts of the city, dubbed Talanta Sports City. It is slated to host the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the continent’s largest sporting event, and is scheduled for completion by December 2025
After meeting with Motsepe, President William Ruto sought to assure both CAF and the public that the stadiums would be ready in time for both tournaments. The East African nation was notably stripped of the rights to host CHAN 2018 due to lack of preparation. The tournament was held in Rwanda.
— Martin K.N. Siele in Nairobi
