Kenya men’s football team, Harambee Stars, is assured of receiving a whooping Sh25.8 million for featuring in the delayed 2024 African Nations Championship (Chan).
Kenya will co-host the 19-team tournament alongside Uganda, and Tanzania from August 2 to 30.
According to the breakdown on the tournament’s prize money by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Harambee Stars could even earn more money should the team finish third in their Group ‘A’ or higher.
Africa’s football governing body CAF has announced a record prize purse of Sh1.3 billion ($10,400,000) for the tournament, a 32 percent increase from Sh1.02 billion ($7.9 million) awarded at the last edition held in Algeria in 2023.
The winner of this edition of the tournament will receive Sh452.2 million ($3,500,000), marking a 75 percent increase from the Sh258.4 million ($2,000,000) awarded to Senegal for clinching the previous edition in Algeria.
The tournament’s runners up will pocket Sh155 million ($1,200,000), while the teams that finish third and fourth will receive Sh90.4 million ($700,000) and Sh77.5 million ($600,000) respectively from CAF.
Harambee Stars are in Group 'A' alongside 2018 and 2020 champions Morocco, Angola, 2009 and 2016 winners the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. Group 'B' members are hosts Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Mauritania and the Central African Republic while Group 'C' consists of home team Uganda, Algeria, Niger, Guinea and South Africa. Group 'D' members are defending champions Senegal, Sudan, Republic of Congo and Nigeria. The Group 'D' matches will be held in Zanzibar.
According to CAF, the three teams that finish bottom in the five-team Groups 'A', 'B' and 'C' will each receive a prize of Sh25.8 million ($200,000).
Competition’s prize money
A similar amount will be received by all the teams that finish fourth in the three pools alongside the bottom-placed team in the four-team Group 'D'.
For the three teams that emerge third in the five-team Groups 'A', 'B' and 'C' along with the third-placed team in Group 'D', they will each receive Sh38.7 million ($300,000).
Meanwhile, the four quarter finalists’ losers will each pocket Sh58.1 million ($450,000). Only the top two teams in each pool will progress to the quarter-finals stage.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe has said that the move to increase the competition’s prize money is a broader vision to elevate African football.
“We are excited about the upcoming Chan in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. This increase in prize money will support development of locally based players and help strengthen the global competitiveness of African football,” said Motsepe.
“This competition is a key part of our strategy to make African football more appealing to fans, sponsors and global broadcasters,” he added.
Thanks to the significant increase in Chan’s prize money, the tournament now ranks third among CAF competitions in earnings. Only the Africa Cup of Nations winners (Sh904.4 million or $7million) and CAF Champions League winners (Sh516.8 million or $4 million) take home more.
Previously, Chan winners’ prize money of Sh258.4 million ($2 million) was at par with the prize money for the CAF Confederation Cup.
