Stakeholders react after closure of Nyayo, Kasarani

Football stakeholders have warned that the move to close the two Kenya’s biggest stadiums for renovations until 2025 will come with ramifications on the sport amid the existing situation of inadequate standard sporting facilities in the country.

Sports CS Ababu Namwamba on Tuesday officially handed over the Nyayo National Stadium, Moi Sports Centre Kasarani and Kipchoge Keino Stadium to the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) for renovation with the three facilities earmarked for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations’ hosting joint bid between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) chief executive officer Barry Otieno welcomed the move terming it significant as it will go a long way in boosting the success of the Pamoja bid ahead of the announcement of the countries that will host the premier championship on September 27.

Otieno was however cagey on the fate of the home international matches for the national teams Harambee Stars and Harambee Starlets only noting that the federation will engage the Ministry of Sports on the uncertainty.

“We welcome the move by the ministry and we hope when the renovation is over the stadiums will serve their purpose of the sports. On the issue of the national teams, we will seek an audience with the ministry to see the way forward.”

The two teams may be forced to play their World Cup (Harambee Stars) and Women's Africa Cup of Nations (Harambee Starlets) qualifiers home matches outside the country.

This is not the first time the two facilities are being shut down for a face lift as Nyayo got a new lease of life in 2020 when former President Uhuru Kenyatta reopened it for use after three years of renovations.

Despite the taxpayers coughing up close to a billion-shilling budget for the upgrade, Confederation of African Football (CAF) deemed Nyayo and Kasarani unfit to host international matches in 2021.

This is after both stadiums were subjected to an intense inspection exercise ahead of the FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifiers but failed to meet the required standards.

Football administrator Lordvic Aduda is bothered that the football stakeholders were not consulted before the move by the Ababu Namwamba-led ministry adding that roping in the military alone does not mean their work will match the international standards.

“Tapping into the expertise of the contractors from the military is not a bad thing but are they aware of the FIFA standards? Were they briefed of what is expected by the sports international bodies? These are the questions that the stakeholders are asking because we feel there is the need to offer technical advice on the frameworks of the international bodies like FIFA.

“We also do not want the taxpayers’ money to be misused as this is not the first time the facilities are being closed for upgrade but don’t get the value for money. After the recent refurbishment, the inspectors gave us zero so a lot should be done to ensure we will not be doing renovations every time and then,” he said.

On his side, AFC Leopards Chairman Dan Shikanda said the move was a big blow to them as they have been using Nyayo Stadium as their home ground adding that playing outside Nairobi will pile pressure on their already straining coffers.

“It seems we will have to go back to the drawing board and this will have a great impact because the season is already on so this will put us in an awkward situation. Previously when this happened we used to play in Machakos, Kericho and Narok and it was not a good experience due to financial pressure it comes with when you’re outside Nairobi.”

Leopards’ arch-rivals Gor Mahia were also affected by Tuesday's decision as they were using Kasarani as their home turf.

The Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) secretary general Ambrose Kisoi and Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) deputy president Paul Bitok told Citizen Digital they have not been notified yet whether the upgrade will also affect the arenas in the two facilities.