Sports PS Mwangi grilled by MPs over venues readiness for CHAN

The National Assembly Sports Committee has raised doubts of Kenya's readiness to host the biennial African Nations Championship [CHAN] primed for August 2025.

Appearing before the Sports Committee on Monday, Sports Principal Secretary (PS) Elijah Mwangi was at pains to convince the lawmakers of Kenya’s readiness, as works on the venues earmarked to host the showpiece – the Kasarani Stadium and the Nyayo National Stadium – are far from complete, with barely two months to the event.

In the meantime, as the lawmakers pressed for answers on the slow progress, CAF inspectors are expected in the country next week to make another inspection tour and assess the progress made.

“The completed date of December 2025 for the stadia is for AFCON. We know they have given us some more requirements in as far as hosting of AFCON (2027) is concerned,” said PS Mwangi.

The tournament was initially set for February this year but was pushed back to August due to unpreparedness.

The PS was however adamant that the stadia can host the tournament in their current state, noting that “the requirement standards are not that high compared to AFCON 2027”.

“The two have different parameters in terms of expectations of CAF. For CHAN, we are ready and the requirements for CHAN are lower compared to AFCON, so to date we are ready,” noted Mwangi.

“We expect the team from CAF for inspections next week, as far as hosting of CHAN is concerned,” he added.

Kenya is set to host the competition alongside neighbours Uganda and Tanzania.