Mombasa gears up for historic CECAFA Beach Soccer Champs

The coastal city of Mombasa is set to make history as it prepares to host the CECAFA Beach Soccer Championship for the first time, with 11 nations expected to battle it out on Kenya’s sandy shores this June.

From June 15 to 21, iconic beaches such as Nyali Beach and Pirates Beach will be transformed into vibrant arenas, setting the stage for a thrilling week of beach football action.

Local football leaders are confident the tournament will leave a lasting impact, particularly among the youth.

“This tournament will be a game changer for the youths,” said Mombasa FKF Chairman Alamin Ahmed Abdalla.

“We are ready to host the CECAFA Tournament in June. We have conducted site visits to all our beaches and I can confidently say that we will host a one-of-a-kind tournament,” he added.

Abdalla also highlighted growing support for the sport from the federation’s top leadership.

“Our FKF President Hussein Mohammed has really emphasized giving beach soccer a priority. We know how hard it is for a player to make it to the national team, but through beach soccer we are 100% sure of tapping players from our coastal region. We will rally to have more international tournaments even beyond CECAFA.”

In preparation, a 16-team county competition is already underway, designed to identify the best talent. Four top teams will progress to the regional level, forming the foundation for selecting players to represent Kenya in the tournament as part of the Harambee Sand Stars.

Beach soccer committee official Kennedy Kiema emphasized the importance of early planning in building a competitive squad.

“This time we have time to come up with a strong national team since we are starting from the county level,” Kiema explained.

“We have all the dates set from county level to regional level where we will do the selection, then after that the national team will go into camp for two weeks to prepare for CECAFA.”

He expressed confidence in the talent pool available along the coast.

“We have enough strong and ready players for the tournament—it’s just that we have not been keen on nurturing them. Last year we had another regional teams tournament in Malindi—Kilifi and Mombasa teams did well, so we are building from there,” he added.

FKF officials have assured fans that preparations are firmly on track, with infrastructure and logistics nearing completion.

“We are up to the task and come June we will host the 11 countries in a one-of-a-kind tournament,” said Gabriel Mghendi, Coast NEC member and chair of the Futsal & Beach Soccer Committee.

“All preparations are on and soon we will have all the fields set and our Harambee Sand Stars in camp for the regional tournament.”