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Bandari want to play their Caf Confederation Cup matches in Mombasa and have subsequently convened an urgent board meeting on Tuesday to map out the way forward.
This is after the county government of Mombasa ruled out any possibility of the Mombasa County Stadium, which was closed for renovation three years ago, being ready in time to host international matches.
The Confed Cup opening matches will be held in August.
Bandari vice chairman Bernard Osero on Monday said it was the wish of Bandari to host their continental match in Mombasa and has promised to ensure that is made possible when they meet in Mombasa.
One of the options on the card Osero said will be to upgrade Bandari home ground, Mbaraki Sports Club to meet the Caf requirements, a move he said was feasible.
“Now that it is clear Mombasa Municipal Stadium will not be available, we have an option of upgrading the KPA Mbaraki Sports Club which has been our home ground to meet the Caf requirements to allow our fans to watch the continental matches at our own backyard”, Osero who is also KPA’s head of corporate affairs, said on Monday.
According to him, it would be cheaper in the long run to upgrade and use Mbaraki Sports Club instead of playing their matches in Nairobi where fans might be hostile to the team.
Osero said hosting their Caf matches outside Mombasa will be the last resort after exhausting all avenues that would make it impossible to play in Mombasa.
Mombasa County Government Chief Officer in charge of Sports Rajab Babu said the yet to start renovations of the Mombasa Stadium will take a minimum of one and a half years ruling out any possibility of the any Confederation Cup fixture taking place in Mombasa.
“This is a Sh1.7 billion project which cannot be rushed,” Babu said.
“We want to take out time and ensure that we re-work the Mombasa Stadium to international standards once and for all and we are therefore appealing to Coast soccer fans who have now been starved of football action at the facility for close to four years to allow us some more time,” Babu added without revealing the actual dates when the renovations will start.
