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Mombasa, Kisumu to miss out on Chan matches


Mombasa and Kisumu will not host next year’s Africa Nations Championship (Chan) games, Nairobi News can reveal.

The two cities have lost the hosting rights as their football venues don’t meet the bare minimum requirements for staging matches of these calibre.

“Mombasa will not be ready, the renovation process is so slow, we are not even thinking about it,” Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa told Nairobi News in Libreville on Sunday, moments after meeting Confederation of African Football (Caf) Secretary General Hicham El Amrani.

“Same applies to Kisumu, Caf isn’t happy that there is a dumpsite located within the stadium. They say as it stands, it doesn’t even qualify to be a training pitch,” Mwendwa added.

OTHER VENUES

Consequently, Nairobi, Meru, Machakos and Eldoret have been earmarked as the hosts for the matches.

Renovations in Eldoret and Meru facilities are in top gear, Nairobi News understands, while the Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani in Nairobi has already been given a thumbs up by Caf save for some little sprucing up.

Nyayo Stadium, however, requires serious renovations, as new changing rooms are required alongside a media centre and perimeter fence.

The three-week tournament is slated for Kenya in January 2018, and the Government last week moved to Gazette its Local Organizing Committee, which will be chaired by Mwendwa.