CAF President Patrice Motsepe was expected in Nairobi on Thursday evening to check on Kenya’s preparations to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Later on Friday, Motsepe will meet President William Ruto and Football Kenya Federation (FKF) officials.
Motsepe, who will meet President Ruto at State House, Nairobi, will be accompanied by CAF officials to assesses Kenya’s preparations to co-host 2027 Afcon with Uganda and Tanzania.
Motsepe was expected in Nairobi last evening from a similar inspection tour in Tanzania. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will jointly host the tournament from June 19 to July 17 next year.
Speaking in Tanzania on Thursday, Motsepe said Afcon’s popularity justified his obsession with ensuring that Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were fully prepared to host the biennial tournament.
“We had 6.5 billion views watching the last Afcon in Morocco, and 3.5 billion were watching on TV, so this means football is very important to us,” Motsepe said at a press conference attended by Tanzanian football federation and government officials.
Motsepe said he was confident about Tanzania’s preparations to host the tournament, but acknowledged that some areas required urgent attention.
“I’m confident and it is based on reality. I have been receiving reports on (Tanzania’s) preparations. That is why I had to come personally to see and, indeed, there are areas we have to improve, areas where there are deficiencies and areas we are falling behind. I’m satisfied after the discussions we have had,” he said.
An exterior view of the under-construction 60,000-seater Raila Odinga Talanta Stadium in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The CAF boss also dismissed claims that he was more interested in seeing Tanzania host Afcon than Tanzanians themselves.
“I thought this criticism (about unpreparedness) ended in Cameroon when some of my brothers in CAF said I wanted Afcon in that country more than Cameroonians themselves. I hear my brothers and leaders say this with clear intention, but I know there are areas where improvement is required and it will happen,” Motsepe said.
“Sometimes deficiencies are exaggerated and the areas which need improvement are exaggerated. I’m clear we will work and implement interventions as a matter of urgency to ensure we are well prepared.”
Motsepe said he will return to the three host countries in January to assess progress and ensure that areas lagging behind are addressed in good time.
“There is already some urgent work on where we were falling behind and we have improved. Afcon is about the celebration of the enormous talent we have, so we have to ensure everything goes right,” he said.
The CAF boss said East Africa has a rich football history and enormous talent, adding that the economic benefits of hosting the tournament will be significant. He said fans will move freely across the region during the tournament through appropriate visa arrangements.
“The deep commitments amongst us show there will be no situation where Tanzania or any other host nation will fall behind in preparations. I’m deeply committed to this, and they always inform me of the preparations, as well as me coming back in January to check on what has been done,” he said.
Motsepe explained that he will not visit Uganda in his current tour because he is due to travel to USA. US places travel restrictions on people travelling from countries with cases of Ebola to quarantine for 60 days before entering to the United States. This comes despite the World Health Organization declaring Uganda free of Ebola on August 27.
Kenya has stepped up preparations towards co-hosting 2027 Afcon. The newly constructed 60,000-capacity Raila Odinga International Stadium in Nairobi is one of Kenya’s venues for the tournament.
Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said on August 19 that the stadium was 92 per cent complete. He added that the playing surface had already been planted with grass, marking another major milestone in the construction of Kenya’s first purpose-built football stadium.
