How State bungled Chan bid

Kenya is likely to escape stern sanctions from the Confederation of African Football despite the continental body on Saturday opting to strip the country of the right to host next year’s Africa Nations Championship (CHAN).

As a result, the national football team has automatically been disqualified from taking part in the competition that kicks off on January 12, which is indeed a great disservice to our local based footballers who have spent months preparing for the tournament.

The government and Football Kenya Federation (FKF) are however on the spotlight for all the wrong reasons in the wake of this announcement.

These two institutions have been urged by stakeholders to undergo a thorough post-morterm to identify the cause(s) of this embarrassing scenario, where the country failed in a task the likes of Ivory Coast, Sudan, South Africa and Rwanda have successfully accomplished within the last eight years. 

In stripping Kenya of the hosting rights, Caf President Ahmad Ahmad said Kenya currently lacks the required sports infrastructure to stage the 16-nation, three-week tournament.

Ahmad also said, at a press briefing in Accra, Ghana, that the continental body’s executive committee he had chaired earlier on had reviewed the current “political climate” in Kenya and “overwhelmingly” concluded it wasn’t appropriate for the country to host the tournament which will bring together some of the continent’s football powerhouses including Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, Zambia and Ivory Coast.

The Caf boss was referring to the political temperatures in the country following the September 1 Supreme Court ruling that annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta’s win in the August 8 polls. 

Nation Sport has also gathered the continental football body chiefs are upset with both the government and FKF officials for being economical with the truth in regard to the country’s preparedness.

Up until this moment, even though government funded renovations are on-going, none of the five stadiums earmarked to host the tournament meet the standards for staging an international match.

Ordinarily, Kenya could fall in trouble with Caf if the continental body rules the country “wasted its time” and failed to plan accordingly to stage this event in accordance with Article 28 of the Caf Statues on candidates for organising tournament and designation of host country which states “the host country of the Africa Nations Championship will be informed three years prior to the date for the tournament.”

But then, Cecafa Secretary general Nicholas Musonye who has served in various Caf committees explains the country could be let off the hook for showing “some commitment.”

“Normal sanctions apply in the event the country bids for a tournament and later on deliberately refuses to host it as was the case with Morocco,” explained Musonye. 

The north African country was banned from participating in the 2017 and 2019 editions of the Africa Nations Cup for withdrawing from hosting the 2015 finals over fears of the spread of the Ebola virus.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation was separately fined $1 million (about Sh103 million).

“Kenya’s case is different. There has been some commitment shown by the government and FKF even though this clearly isn’t enough. The government released some money the other day,” explained Musonye.

The government on Thursday approved an allocation of Sh4.2 million meant to renovate four stadiums namely Nyayo and Kasarani in Nairobi, Kipchoge Keino in Eldoret and Kinoru in Meru.

“This is one in a growing list of events Kenya has bid as part of showcasing our nation’s talent and promoting tourism,” a statement by State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu read.

Former FKF president Sam Nyamweya however pointed out that he was “dismayed” by this development, while blaming his successor Nick Mwendwa for this failure. 

“We have lost a opportunity to have our players play at the biggest stage in continental football. We may also never get a chance to host another event because CAF has lost confidence in us,” said Nyamweya.

“The contractors at the stadiums should continue with their work. We should take advantage of the government goodwill and renovate all the stadiums, put up more training grounds,” he added.

“Then in three or so years, we will go to Caf and bid for an age-group or women’s tournament.”