Federations welcome reopening of Nyayo

Sports federations are dead chuffed about the reopening of the ‘monster’ Nyayo Stadium following completion of the prolonged renovation works at the facility which was closed down more than three years ago.

The news that President Uhuru Kenyatta will Saturday morning reopen the refurbished multi-purpose stadium for use, has been well received by the sport’s governing bodies who have termed the milestone as a ‘big relief’.

Athletics Kenya (AK) Vice-president Paul Mutwii says the reopening of the facility has come in handy for the Nairobi leg of World Athletics Continental Tour dubbed Kip Keino Classic which will be hosted at the 30,000-seater stadium October 3.

Mutwii recounted how AK has faced challenges since 2017 owing to the closure of the facility, which they largely prefer when hosting national and international athletics championships due to its proximity to the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).

“We’re very happy to have back Nyayo because it has been a challenge to host our events elsewhere because the stadium is strategically built where fans can throng in large numbers compared to Kasarani which is far from CBD.

“We (AK) had requested the government to fasten renovations ahead of the upcoming Nairobi Continental Tour and we’re happy because they’ve fulfilled our request and now the event will be hosted in a good-looking facility,” an elated Mutwii told Citizen Digital.

Mutwii also revealed that before the reopening ceremony, President Kenyatta will participate in different light races organised by AK ‘as a test’ for the newly-looking facility starting 9:30am.

Kenya’s Chef de Mission for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Waithaka Kioni, who is also the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) president, says the reopening of the facility is a major boost to the athletes who are preparing to represent Kenya next July.

“That the stadium is ready after the renovations is commendable as it will be available for training by some of our athletes preparing to represent Kenya at the 2020 Olympics Games,” Kioni said.

Nyayo was among the five facilities earmarked to host the 2018 African Nations Championship(CHAN) in January 2018 but Kenya lost the hosting rights due to lack of venues readiness.

Since it was closed down, there has been incessant stalling of works at the multi-purpose stadium due to lack of sufficient funds.

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nyayo stadium federations Paul Mutwii Reopening Uhuru Kemyatta

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