Blow as CAF bans Kenya’s main stadia Kasarani, Nyayo

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 29 – Kenya’s main stadia Moi International Sports Center Kasarani and Nyayo have been banned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) from hosting international matches.

This is after both stadiums failed to meet the CAF standards after an inspection conducted by continental football governing body.

“Reference to the inspection visit conducted by CAF, we regret to inform you that the stadium did not meet the set minimum CAF stadium requirements and consequently will not be approved for the qualifying matches of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 matchday five and six,” read a letter from Caf.

Kasarani has been banned completely until it’s upgraded to modern standards while Nyayo National Stadium got a temporarily permission to host Kenya’s last FIFA 2021 Qatar World Cup Qualification against Rwanda.  

The new directive means Kenya will have to host matches abroad, as the two stadiums failed to meet inspection requirements with Gor Mahia and Tusker FC being forced to find alternatives in the neighboring countries to host their CAF Confederation and Champions League matches respectively.

In the Caf report, ome areas of the Kasarani failed to meet some basic criteria like adequate floodlights for night games, substandard referee dressing rooms and a below-par facility committed to first aid in addition to lack of a modern media center.

Below are some of the highlighted issues;

-The pitch is in poor condition. Overall pitch condition must be improved, and the surface must be levelled, green and marked clearly in white; Markings on the pitch should be symmetric all over the field of play.

– The floodlights capacity is around 500 Lux. For evening matches, ensure that the floodlights LUX capacity is according to the CAF match requirements: A minimum of 1200 Lux should be provided all over the pitch, covering uniformly every area of the playing field.

– All the current teams and referees dressing rooms need a full upgrade and renovation.

– The teams and officials dressing rooms are not up to the standard for professional footballers use. It needs general maintenance, renovation, and appropriate high standard equipment. Consider demolishing the current dressing rooms and toilets, and build new ones.

– The stadium must be equipped with a dedicated room for first aid and medical treatment of players.

– Seats for spectators must be individual, fixed (e.g. to the floor), separated from one another, shaped, numbered, made of an unbreakable and non-flammable material, and have a backrest of a minimum height of thirty (30) cm when measured from the seat.

– Spectator stands need general maintenance, painting and cleaning, followed by installation of individual fixed seats in all sectors.

– The stadium must be equipped with refreshment and catering facilities for all spectators in every sector of the stadium.

– There is no media centre available in the stadium; Media Centre to be created in are n.4 in the stadium; The stadium must have a modern Media Centre available and should be equipped with the following: § Desks, power supply, phone/internet connections and television must be provided for media representatives.