Gor, Police to play their home matches in Kenya

Gor Mahia and Kenya Police will enjoy the crucial home advantage after all when they host Egyptian giants in their respective African Club football competitions.

On Saturday, the two clubs confirmed to Nation Sport that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Sports Kenya have allowed them to play their upcoming home matches at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.

Gor will welcome Africa’s most successful club, Al Ahly in the first leg of their second preliminary round  Champions League encounter on September 15.

Police will host Zamalek in their Confederation Cup second preliminary round in the same stadium on September 13.

Zamalek are five-time African Champions League winners and two-time Confederation Cup conquerors.

Playing their home matches in Nairobi had been in doubt since no stadium in Kenya meets the Fifa and CAF standards to stage international football matches.

The Ministry of Sports had also planned to close Nyayo National Stadium in September to complete renovation work ahead of the  2024 African Nations Championships (Chan) that Kenya will co-host with Uganda and Tanzania.

The delayed championships will be held early next year. Speaking after the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Gala awards held at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on July 26, the federation’s boss Nick Mwendwa, said that CAF had approved Nyayo National Stadium to host only the preliminary rounds of the African competitions.

Gor defeated Al Merreikh Bentiu of South Sudan 5-2 on aggregate while Police gunned down Ethiopian Coffee 1-0 on aggregate.

Gor’s chairman Ambrose Rachier and Kenya Police FC Board of Trustees chairman Fred Akama are excited that they will now play their first round home matches in front of their fans.

They also said this will save them the hustle and expenses of finding a venue outside the country to host their  home matches.

“As Gor Mahia we are relieved to host the match in Nairobi because it is very expensive to play in a foreign country. It is a big match, so having our supporters will be very crucial,” said Rachier.

Akama said: “Apart from using a lot of money to secure a stadium in another country, it is also expensive for a team to play the two matches away. Every football fan would like to watch the two big matches at the stadium so we are very happy to play in front of our fans.”

There was talk that Gor would play their home match in Egypt. Gor will be out to upset Al Ahly in the much-awaited clash.  

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