Tickets for the quarter final clash of the 2024 Africa Nation Championship (Chan) pitting Kenya against Madagascar went on sale at exactly 12pm on Tuesday.
No sooner had the portal https://chan.mookh.com/event/chan-2024-quarterfinals/ , than it crashed to the dismay of thousands of football fans who were waiting to purchase their precious ticket for the game that will be held at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi on Friday.
This writer made several attempts to purchase a ticket for the game but repeatedly ended up getting the following message:
“Gateway time out. Error code 504. The web server reported a bad gateway error. Please try in a few minutes.”
President William Ruto joins thousands of Kenyans at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi on August 17, 2025 in cheering Harambee Stars during their Group 'A' match against Zambia in the 2024 African Nations Championship.
Photo credit: PCS
All the four group matches in the tournament involving Harambee Stars sold out with scores of ticketless fans gaining entry into the match venue.
For Kenya’s last match, a group encounter against Zambia on Sunday, entry was restricted to 60 per cent of the stadium’s seating capacity of 48,000.
Kenyan fans follow the match between Kenya and Zambia from a fans zone at the Kenya National Archives in Nairobi's CBD on August 17, 2025.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
Thus 27,000 tickets were offered for sale to the public, with a majority of Kenya fans following the action either at home or from several fan zones that were set up across Nairobi.
The restriction was imposed by (Confederation of African Football) Caf after repeated safety and security breaches by spectators attending Kenya games, some of whom didn't have the match tickets.
Caf fined Football Kenya Federation (FKF) a total of Sh12.8 million due to security breaches by fans in five matches that have taken place in Nairobi.
Kenyan fans follow the match between Kenya and Zambia from a fans zone at the Kenya National Archives in Nairobi's CBD on August 17, 2025.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
Caf also warned that failure to implement the new measures would lead to more serious sanction, including finding alternative venues for Harambee Stars to play their home matches.
Only one class of ticket has been offered for the Kenya versus Madagascar retailing at Sh250. Previously, there were silver and regular tickets priced at Sh500 and Sh200 respectively.
Airing their frustrations, a section of the fans blamed the government for controlling the portal since fans in Uganda and Tanzania have not been suffering the same fate.
President William Ruto and ODM party leader Raila Odinga share a light moment with Harambee Stars team captain Aboud Omar after Kenya beat Zambia 1-0 in a Group 'A' match of the 2024 African Nations Championship at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi on August 17, 2025.
Photo credit: PCS
“Why is the portal in Tanzania working and here in Kenya ours is failing, this is pure hogwash,” wrote Were Shally on Facebook.
Another fan Kariuki wa Maina wrote on X: “Government systems are too weak and very insecure no wonder they crash and still get hacked.”
The Caf Head of TV and Communications Lux September, told NTV sport talk show SportOn! On Monday night that the ticketing challenges were “normal’ and even Uefa experienced the same.
