CHAN 2024: Kenya confident country will remain as co-host for tournament

Kenya certainly has a chequered past when it comes to staging continental football events.

In 1996 they lost Afcon hosting rights to South Africa after the Kenyan government informed Caf the country was not ready.

History repeated itself in 2017 when the country was stripped of the 2018 CHAN.

Last month a Caf delegation inspected stadiums, hotels, airports, training venues and other facilities over the course of a three-day trip to Nairobi.

Caf’s host country manager for Kenya, Kabelo Bosilong, told the media the governing body is committed to ensuring that “these tournaments will take place in the countries that it was intended to take place”.

Kenya is due to spend over $20m on stadium renovations, and the sports minister has defended hosting CHAN at a time when other sectors in the country are in dire need of funding. The education sector, for example, was recently crippled by prolonged strikes.

“It usually comes up all the time when governments host (big events), whether it was the Olympics in London, the World Cup in Brazil and many other places,” Murkomen said.

“People keep asking ‘Why would you want to put this amount of money in football vis-a-vis other competing interests?’.

“The consideration that was made when we were bidding was also the benefits that come from it. We are thinking our tourism is going to go up.

“We also believe that it’s going to inspire growth in the sports sector, and many young people will get opportunities. We believe that football investors and football scouts will also see Kenya as a country [with] potential.”