An aerial view of a section of the Nairobi Expressway and the under-construction Talanta Sports City Stadium in Nairobi, which will be one of the venues of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Kenya has set November this year as the deadline for all its venues to be ready for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
The country will jointly co-host the 36th edition of Africa's premier football tournament with neighbours Uganda and Tanzania mid next year.
Although the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has not officially announced the exact dates for the 24-nation showpiece, it is expected to be held in June and July next year.
In an exclusive interview with Nation Sport, Nicholas Musonye, the chairman of the 2027 Afcon Local Organising Committee for Kenya, said completing the venues by November this year will align with CAF’s requirement that all facilities earmarked for the competition be ready at least eight months before the big kick-off.
“CAF has indicated that all the venues must be ready and tested eight months before the tournament,” said the veteran football administrator, who previously served as the Cecafa Secretary General.
Drawing lessons from Morocco’s successful hosting of the 2025 Afcon, Musonye singled out infrastructure, security, hospitality, and marketing as the key areas that Kenya must prioritise in order to match the standards set by the North African nation.
An exterior view of the under-construction 60,000-seater Talanta Stadium in Nairobi, which will be one of the venues of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Adequate budget allocation, timely payment of the hosting rights fees, and the establishment of a joint steering committee by the three hosts are among the other key measures that Musonye noted were necessary for its success.
With the clock fast ticking, Musonye said Kenya will kick off “serious” preparations this February.
He revealed that the LOC is finalising a work plan to guide the process.
Afcon hosting rights
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are each expected to pay to CAF $30 million (Sh3.9 billion) Afcon hosting rights fees by April this year after which the three countries will sign the hosting agreements with CAF.
“We have told the government to pay the hosting fees early enough so that we have the confidence of CAF. We don’t want a situation where CAF will be pushing us to pay, and we drag our feet,” said Musonye.
During the LOC’s benchmarking mission in Morocco for the 2025 Afcon, the veteran football administrator said his team was impressed by the excellent conditions of the stadiums and training venues in the North African nation.
To ensure Kenya’s venues maintain similar standards during the tournament, he said they have recommended in their report to Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya that the facilities be developed to the best standards, and only qualified personnel be tasked with taking care of the venues. The LOC submitted the report to Mvurya on Tuesday.
“If you look at the stadium in Rabat (Prince Moulay Abdellah), you wouldn't know that some matches had been played there,” stated Musonye.
“It is the same case with the training venues. It means that the way they are maintained is not how we did ours here for Chan (the African Nations Championship that Kenya co-hosted with Uganda and Tanzania in August last year). It means that we need to have proper technicians to maintain our venues so that they stay as new as possible,” he added.
The chairman of Kenya’s National Steering Committee for the 2024 Chan and 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), Nicholas Musonye, speaks during the Sport On show at Nation Centre in Nairobi on January 21, 2025.
Three match venues
While the 60,000-seater Talanta Sports City in Lang’ata Constituency in Nairobi, and the 48,000-seater Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Kasarani have been designated as the match venues for the tournament in Kenya, Musonye said the LOC has proposed that Nyayo National Stadium also be considered as a match venue, rather than just a training facility.
The former journalist said Nyayo could be used to host low-key matches, thus giving Talanta and MISC “breathing space”.
Apart from replacing the playing surface, Musonye said some of the upgrades to be undertaken at MISC include improved lighting, expansion of the media tribune, and the adjustment of the technical benches to ensure spectators seated behind them have a clear view of the pitch.
At Nyayo, Musonye says, the planned works include installing a canopy, expansion of the media tribune, and the adjustment of the technical benches for a clear view by the fans.
Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret is the other venue that Kenya presented in the East Africa Pamoja Bid as a potential match venue for the tournament.
10 training venues
Drawing from Morocco’s model, where Rabat alone had 12 world-class training venues, the LOC chairman said Nairobi should have at least 10, to ensure all teams have their own facilities for proper preparations.
“For us to be successful in hosting Afcon, we need about 10 to 12 training pitches so that each team has a training pitch to plan for their own training. We don’t want to juggle with the teams’ training,” he observed.
The Pamoja Bid had listed five training venues in Nairobi, viz Ulinzi Sports Complex, Absa Sports Club, Utalii College Sports Club, Police Sacco Stadium and MISC, Annexe ground
Should Kipchoge Keino Stadium be selected to host the matches, he observed, it will require six training venues around it. The bid book mentioned Eldoret Showground, Eldoret Polytechnic, 64 Stadium and University of Eldoret as designated training venues.
Sports Permanent Secretary Peter Tum (second left) tours Kip Keino Stadium, Eldoret as a caterpillar brings down part of the terraces. Renovation work at the 2027 Afcon-designated venue has resumed.
New railway lines
Citing Prince Moulay Abdellah, Musonye said adequate parking at the stadiums is another key area Kenya must address.
“Prince Moulay Abdellah has an underground parking with a capacity of 4,000 vehicles. We have recommended that something must be done about parking at our stadiums because that is going to be a challenge during the Afcon,” he stated.
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For easier movement of people to and from both the Talanta Sports City and MISC, Musonye said they have proposed improving the transport infrastructure around the venues, including the establishment of a railway line. “We have recommended that we must have a railway line from the City Centre through Nyayo to Talanta and another railway line from Kawangware to Talanta. We also need a railway line around Kasarani,” he said.
“If we have a railway line and we coordinate very well, there will be no traffic jam because it is easier for the masses to use a train than vehicles.”
On security, he said they have recommended the training of at least 1,000 police officers on crowd control techniques as per CAF’s guidelines.
Afcon-trained officers
He observed that this will go a long way in ensuring there is adequate security at the venues and preventing incidents where police actions breach CAF crowd-handling rules, leading to fines from the continental football governing body.
“We want 1,000 police officers trained and dedicated to Afcon. They must know how to handle the crowd, what kind of tactics to use, because we don’t want a situation where we just see a policeman firing teargas in the air and then CAF fines us,” he said.
The use of live ammunition was among the violations CAF cited when it fined Kenya Sh6.5 million during Chan.
Also Read: Lessons for Kenya - Security the biggest winner as Morocco celebrates incident-free Afcon
The LOC chairman added that they have recommended establishing the “last mile” perimeter to be five kilometres from both Talanta and MISC during Kenya’s matches, as was the case in Morocco.
As part of the measures to ensure adequate security during the tournament, Musonye said they have proposed the integration of ticketing and security to avoid people accessing the stadiums without valid tickets.
Hospitality management team
Maintaining that hotels in Morocco are among the best in Africa, the football administrator said they have proposed that hospitality services for the competition be handled strictly by qualified personnel.
“The people who were handling hospitality in Morocco were very qualified. We have also recommended that we need a dedicated team to manage that department,” said the LOC chairman.
During Chan, commercial and marketing were among the areas where Kenya performed poorly, as the tournament’s promotion started late, with insufficient branding across the country. Musonye said they will engage CAF to ensure early marketing rollout, with a target of making every Kenyan aware of the country’s hosting role by the end of this year.
“In Chan, we did the branding very badly. After seeing what Morocco did in terms of branding, we are saying that we need to start the branding marketing early. By the end of this year, people must know that Afcon is happening in Kenya,” he said.
Musonye said officials from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania will meet in February to discuss the formation of a joint steering committee to lead preparations for the Afcon.
The three countries failed to establish a joint steering committee for the 2024 Chan owing to divisions. The same division contributed to the three countries failing to agree on a tournament mascot, an official promotional song, and even a joint website.
Delayed disbursement of funds and inadequate budget allocation were the other challenges the LOC grappled with in preparation to co-host Chan, a situation Musonye warned must be avoided for Afcon at all costs.
The East African Pamoja bid delegation, led by then Kenya's Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba (centre), in Cairo, Egypt, on September 27, 2023, before the bid winners were announced.
Joint visa
He added that the government should also grant tax waivers to CAF and approve visa-free entry early, unlike during Chan, when the approvals came very late.
He said they have already held discussions with Uganda and Tanzania officials about a joint visa for the tournament.
Musonye has also proposed the downsizing of the LOC to enhance efficiency and improve overall performance.
What Afcon does he want to deliver?
“We want to deliver a proper African championship where the true African culture will be on display -- the hospitality of the African people, the authenticity of Africa, the spirit,” Musonye said.
“With my experience in football, working in the region for many years, I know what is in store for fans who will come to Kenya, to Uganda, and to Tanzania, and all that combined for a real cocktail of Africa. You will feel you are in Africa.”
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