Kenya’s Harambee Stars will open her Group 'A' campaign in the delayed 2024 Africa Nations Championship (Chan) against two-time champions the Democratic Republic of Congo on August 3.
The match will be held at the 55,000-seater Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Kasarani from 3pm East African Time. Two-time champions Morocco, Angola and Zambia are the other teams in Group 'A'.
Chan is a biennial football tournament, which is exclusively reserved for players, who are plying their trade in their respective domestic leagues. Kenya will host the 19-team tournament alongside Uganda and Tanzania.
Drawn in Group 'B', Tanzania will face Burkina Faso in the tournament’s opening match on August 2 at the 60,000-seater Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam. Madagascar, Mauritania, and Central African Republic are the other teams in the group.
Uganda will open their campaign in Group 'C' against Algeria on August 4 at the 45,202-seater Nelson Mandela National Stadium in Kampala. The other teams in the group are Niger, Guinea, and South Africa.
Defending champions Senegal will open their Group 'D' campaign against Nigeria at the 15,000-seater Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar on August 5. Sudan, Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria are the other teams in the group.
While Kenya’s Kasarani venue has been selected to host the tournament’s final on August 30, Nelson Mandela Stadium will host the third-place play-off match on August 29.
Only the top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals stage which is scheduled for August 22 and 23. The semi-finals will take place on August 26.
After opening their campaign against DRC, who lifted the title in 2009 and 2016, Kenya, coached by South African football legend Benni McCarthy, will have a three-day rest before facing Angola at the same venue on August 7.
In their third group fixture on August 10 at Kasarani, Kenya will clash with Morocco who lifted the title in 2018 and 2020. Harambee Stars will conclude their group matches against Zambia on August 17 at the same venue.
Stripped of hosting rights
Nyayo National Stadium will host five other Group 'A' matches and one Group 'C' fixture – Algeria versus Niger on August 18. The Group 'A' matches to be held at the venue are Morocco versus Angola (August 3), DRC against Zambia (August 7), Zambia against Angola (August 10), Morocco versus Zambia (August 14) and DRC versus Morocco (August 17).
Kenya was meant to host both Group 'A' and 'D' matches but CAF moved the Group 'D' matches to Zanzibar after Nairobi failed to demonstrate its capacity to host two groups.
It will be the third time that the competition is taking place in the Eastern Africa region after Sudan hosted the second edition in 2011 while Rwanda staged the fourth edition in 2016.
Kenya was awarded and later stripped of the right to host the 2018 Chan due to inadequate preparations. Caf moved the tournament to Morocco.
Kenya’s Local Organising Committee chairman Nicholas Musonye has described Nairobi’s selection to stage the tournament’s final as both “a big challenge and a great honour.”
Mr Musonye has asked all stakeholders, including fans, to pull out all stops to ensure the tournament concludes in a memorable fashion.
“It (Nairobi’s selection to host the 2024 Chan final) is a recognition of our ability to do big things,” the former Cecafa Secretary General told Nation Sport on June 20.
“Everyone wants to watch the final, so it is a big challenge and a great honour to host the final. I want to ask Kenyans to cooperate and do everything to ensure we stage a big, memorable ceremony,” he added.
Mr Musonye also urged the Football Kenya Federation to ensure that Harambee Stars are well prepared for the tournament, with the aim of reaching the final.
“As Kenyans, I know we can always rise to the occasion. We have at least two months to prepare for the final. I’m sure the Kenya team will be prepared for this, as reaching the final will make the event the biggest Kenya has ever hosted since the 1987 Mandela Cup final (between Kenya’s Gor Mahia and Tunisia giants Esperance at MISC Kasarani),” he said.
