Parliamentary sports committees give Talanta Stadium thumbs up

The lawmakers led by National Assembly Sports Committee Chair Dan Wanyama stated that the Talanta Sports City Stadium represents genuine value for taxpayer money and will serve as a massive game-changer for future generations of athletes.

During an inspection tour at the Raila Odinga International Stadium on Thursday, the lawmakers gave a thumbs-up to the 60,000-seater facility, which will serve as the main venue for AFCON.

Wanyama reaffirmed the government’s position on the country’s readiness stating that the 2027 will remain the most memorable AFCON event ever.

“Today, the Committee on Sports and Culture has had a tour of the Raila Odinga International Stadium and the purpose was basically to come and see the preparedness of Kenya to host AFCON and to see the state of the infrastructure that will host the matches.”

“As a Committee, our tour has given us an indication that all is well and Kenya will be in a position to host AFCON because so far what is remaining is so minor and we want to appreciate the works that have been done. This is something that Kenya should be proud of. The government has delivered a stadium of a modern stature. When you walk around here for sure you will see that there is value for money and that Kenya is ready to host AFCON come 2027,” Wanyama said.

The lawmakers were openly impressed by the advanced engineering on display as they confidently declared that the 60,000-seat flagship arena is moving at an optimal pace, firmly setting the stage for Kenya to deliver a world-class tournament next year alongside co-hosts Uganda and Tanzania.

Adding substantial weight to this optimism, project supervisors from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) have officially committed to a strict December 31 2026 deadline to finish the few auxiliary works remaining.

The committee members were accompanied by the AFCON 2027 Local Organizing Committee Chairperson Nicholas Musonye, Director General of Sports Kenya Timothy Kiplimo and Secretary Administrative for Sports Josephine Ouko and other senior government officials from the Ministry of Sports.

The inspection tour comes amid reports that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is considering alternative hosts for the continental tournament as concerns grow over the pace of preparations in East Africa.

French newspaper Le Monde earlier this week reported that CAF had contacted Morocco, Algeria and South Africa as possible contingency hosts if the East African co-hosts are unable to complete preparations on schedule.