Nairobi News

SportsWhat's Hot

Kenya shifts attention to Cecafa after Chan debacle

By DAVID KWALIMWA September 30th, 2017 1 min read

The Cecafa’s Executive Committee in Khartoum on Thursday endorsed Kenya as hosts of the annual Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup slated for November/December.

Cecafa president Mutasim Gafar has however said this tournament will only be staged in Kenya if the political climate is “conducive” even after the country lost the hosting rights for next year’s African Nations Championships (Chan).

Nairobi News also understands that Zimbabwe and Ghana are keen to grace the regional football extravaganza which attracts participation from the 12-member nations from East and Central Africa.

“This is going to be a very big tournament I can assure you. We already have a sponsor and some very good teams like Zimbabwe have indicated they would like to be part of it,” Cecafa Secretary general Nicholas Musonye told Nairobi News.

In the past, the likes of Ivory Coast and Malawi have competed in the competition despite not being Cecafa members.

HOST VENUES

At the same time, Mombasa, Nakuru and Kakamega have been earmarked to host these games, mainly owing to the unavailability of several facilities in the country due to government commissioned renovations.

Kakamega County government’s sports minister Robert Sumbi says the 12,000 seater Bukhungu Stadium, which is undergoing a Sh400 million facelift, will be ready for the event.

“Football Kenya Federation have communicated to us about the possibility of hosting the games and we are very excited by the prospect and infact want to host the Harambee Stars and Uganda Cranes. We will be ready because the renovations have been approved by the Confederation of African Football,” said Sumbi.

Uganda are the tournament’s defending champions.