Kenya is committed to co-hosting the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) next year despite concerns about its preparedness for the competition, which begins on 1 February.
The country is due to provide two venues, Nyayo National Stadium and Kasarani Stadium, for what is scheduled to be a 19-team tournament co-hosted by East African neighbours Tanzania and Uganda.
Reports in local media suggest that Kenya is at risk of losing hosting rights following an inspection of facilities last month, but a Confederation of African Football (Caf) official told the BBC there had been no such discussion.
“With the benefit of hindsight, we put ourselves under pressure by hosting CHAN,” Kenya’s sports minister Kipchumba Murkomen told BBC Sport Africa.
“If we had taken more time to think through it, maybe, perhaps we should not have done so.
“But now that we have committed ourselves, we have decided that we will do everything in the books humanly possible to make sure that we achieve what we need to do.”
It will be the first time three countries jointly host CHAN, a tournament reserved for players who feature in their national domestic leagues across the continent.
The second-tier competition is considered as a dress rehearsal for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda before the trio become the first three-way hosts of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in 2027.
The rights to host next year’s CHAN were awarded in December 2023.
At the time Kenya did not have any stadiums approved by Caf to host international matches, making the road to hosting steeper, but promised to have two venues ready for the tournament.
In comparison, Tanzania already had a stadium which fulfilled Caf’s criteria while the venue Uganda has earmarked for CHAN was approved this year.
“What brought us here is because of the status of our stadiums and the resources we need to renovate them,” Murkomen explained.
“What we are doing is to expedite the processes of delivering.
“Some of the things we would have brought by sea are being brought by air. Some of the things that the contractor was working on during the day, [they now] work overnight.
“For now, there are certain contingency measures that are being put in place to make sure that we achieve CHAN. Then we can complete a stadium for Afcon.”
Qualification for CHAN 2024 is due to be completed by the end of December, and Murkomen says any changes to where the finals will be played lie with Caf.
“It will not be our decision if it will be hosted in one stadium, it will have to be decision of Caf,” he said.
“Up to now they have not done the team roster and the scheduling for which team is going to go to which country.”
Checkered past with hosting rights
Mali's players dressed in green, yellow and black warm up in Kenya's Nyayo National Stadium which has green, black and red seats, before the 2022 World Cup qualifier football match between Kenya and Mali in 2021Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: The Nyayo National Stadium has previously hosted Kenya’s home matches but is notw being renovated ahead of the 2024 CHAN
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