What it took to turn Kasarani and Nyayo into world class stadiums

Harford’s thoughts and Khrushchev’s remarks were not far away while going through the CAF Stadium Regulations, a 34-page document that outlines the minimum requirements that match venues in Africa must meet before hosting continental competitions.

Concrete is needed to build stadiums and those regulations cover various aspects of stadium infrastructure. They provide clear details of how they should be set up to provide a safe and secure environment for hosting matches.

With these regulations, CAF aims to ensure a consistent standard of hosting of matches across the continent and looking back, they have been enforcing those requirements with an iron fist.

For the last four years, Kenya and many other African countries have felt the brunt of CAF’s power and arrogance in enforcing those regulations. Countries that fell short of those requirements were forced to host their home matches in territories that have CAF-approved stadiums, a fate that befell Kenya when it had to host some of its Afcon and Fifa World Cup qualifying matches in Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, and Uganda recently.

However, that wandering will be a thing of the past for Kenya after CAF approved the country’s premier match venues, Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani and Nyayo Stadium, to host matches during Chan 2024, a tournament the country will co-host with Tanzania and Uganda from August 2 to August 30.

Promotion

This approval, certainly, comes with the promotion of the two stadiums to CAF Category Four match venues, the highest classification CAF can designate to a stadium. The lowest classification is Category One. Category Two and Three are the other classifications.

As Category Four match venues, Kasarani and Nyayo can also host: Afcon; semi-finals and finals of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup; the CAF Super Cup; and any other top-tier competitions defined by CAF.

Category Three stadiums can only host: group stage and quarter-final matches of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup; Afcon and Fifa World Cup qualifiers; Chan qualifiers; Wafcon final tournaments; and the final stage of the CAF Women’s Champions League.

CAF deems Category Two match venues suitable for hosting of Wafcon qualifiers, Afcon U17/U20/U23 qualifiers and final tournaments and the preliminary rounds of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup.

Category One stadiums only host qualifiers of Women’s Youth Fifa competitions and qualifiers of the Women’s Champions League. In addition to that, CAF issues four types of stadium approvals -- stadium approval, stadium temporary approval, stadium one-match approval, and stadium not-approved.

Match venues are ranked and issued approval ratings based on how they satisfy a litany of requirements listed under each of the eight criteria that CAF checks against when assessing a stadium’s suitability to host a match.

These eight criteria, contained in the CAF Stadium Regulations, also relate to stadium infrastructure and personnel. They are: pitch and surrounding areas; teams, referees, and CAF officials; medical-related areas; spectator-related areas; VIP, VVIP, and hospitality areas; media-related areas; TV and broadcasting-related areas; and, training facilities.

Under pitch and surrounding areas, Kenya had to satisfy seven conditions, each with their own set of requirements.

These seven conditions necessitate provision of: a field of play that is within standard dimensions (100-110 metres by 64-75 metres) with warm-up areas measuring 3 metres by 30 metres; a set of corner flags (1.5 metres high) and two standard goals (2.44 metres high and 7.32 metres wide) and their spares; covered substitute benches that can sit 21 people and another covered bench with sitting room for four match officials; a retractable fireproof player tunnel with minimum width of four metres and minimum height of 2.44 metres; six flagpoles; floodlights with minimum horizontal illumination of 1200 lux; and, power supply that includes main source, stand-by generator, and another generator to power LED panels.

Also, the field of play – whose surface can be natural grass, hybrid, or artificial turf – must be smooth and level and equipped with a drainage and water-sprinkler system. Further, the grass must also be cut to a height of 20-30 millimetres.

Coming to provisions for teams, referees, and CAF officials, as Category Four match venues, Kasarani and Nyayo now have four well-ventilated or air-conditioned dressing rooms for teams and two for match officials. The dressing rooms also have dedicated entry and exit that ensure private, direct, and secure access for teams and match officials.

The teams’ dressing rooms are also equipped with five showers, five individual seated toilets, three urinals, a bathroom sink, hot and cold water, a massage table, a fridge, a tactical board, a trash can, and a permanent or temporary ice bath. The dressing rooms should have 25 seats and lockers, and provisions for mounting a television at a central viewing position. Further, they should have non-slip hygienic floor tiles with shock absorption.

Dressing rooms for match officials will have internet connectivity, first aid kits, a clock, a table, electronic substitution boards, and pump and pressure gauges for inflating match balls.

Further, under the provisions for teams, referees, and CAF officials, Kasarani and Nyayo, now boasts: secure storage rooms with minimum areas of 10 square metres; a room with toilet facilities that can sit 20 ball boys and flag bearers; five offices for CAF officials equipped with a high-speed internet connection, a colour photocopier and scanner, and a printer; a meeting room with tables and chairs arranged in a U-shape; and, safe and secure designated parking areas for teams, officials, VIPs, Vvips, and spectators.

Adhering to the provisions of medical-related areas has possibly transformed Kasarani and Nyayo to full-blown Level Four hospitals, going by the myriad of first aid and treatment facilities that will be available for injured players and referees. These include provisions of treatment rooms, an assortment of medical supplies, and medical equipment such as an automatic ventilator, a capnometer, a defibrillator, and a pulse oximeter. These requirements, actually, are requisite for all stadium categories.

On top of that, Kasarani and Nyayo now have a doping control room which comes with an office for the doping control officer, a waiting area, and a toilet area. The office must contain a TV, a fridge with non-alcoholic drinks, among other amenities and equipment necessary for carrying out doping tests. The doping control room, which is not a requisite for Category One stadiums, is also set in an area that helps to ensure its access is only by authorised people. Its space is also designed to ensure close supervision of players as they give samples for doping tests.

The uplifts to spectator-related areas now mean that Kasarani and Nyayo have fixed individual seats for spectators with backrests that have a minimum height of 30 centimetres. The stadiums will also have designated sitting areas and entry points for away fans.

A public address system, secured against failures of the main power supply, now covers both the inside and outside of the stadium. Other upgrades have seen the installation of a giant screen for the delivery of messages and announcements and broadcast of the action on the pitch. Other upgrades include the provision of a venue operations centre equipped with CCTV monitors and an emergency lighting system.

Most importantly, hosting Chan means Kasarani and Nyayo have adequate sanitary and first-aid facilities for spectators as well as facilities for spectators with disabilities.

As part of upgrades to the VIP, VVIP, and hospitality areas at Kasarani and Nyayo, VIPs and VVIPs will now enjoy padded seating, dedicated lounges, dedicated entry and exits, and dedicated sanitary facilities. They will also have a chance to follow the action from televisions that are directly connected to the Outside Broadcast (OB) van. However, their screens will not show replays.

To cater for the needs of the media, the upgrades to the media-related areas now include provision for a media centre equipped with desks, power supply, high-speed internet connection, and a television. Kasarani and Nyayo will also have media tribunes equipped with desks, power supply, and high-speed internet connection plus a press conference room with at least 50 seats. The press conference room will also be equipped with microphones and speakers.

Renovations to Kasarani and Nyayo now provide better support for television broadcasts by providing platforms for certain camera positions, TV and radio commentary positions with at least three seats, a dedicated area for the OB van, and a well-ventilated or air-conditioned video operating room for VAR officials with a toilet, five seats, three tables, first-aid kits, high-speed internet, and catering services.

As training sites, the Kenya Police Sacco Stadium and the Ulinzi Sports Complex are required to be fenced and have secured entrances and exits. Their floodlights must have a minimum capacity of 500 lux. They also must have at least one dressing room with 23 seats and lockers and a bench equipped with 20 seats for reserve players and team officials. The venues should also provide two movable goalposts, in addition to having a minimum of three showers, three toilets, three sinks, and three urinals.

Indeed, it must have taken a lot of concrete for Kenya to meet all of those requirements. Funny enough, the word “concrete” does not appear anywhere in CAF Stadium Regulations. However, like concrete, CAF has ensured that the rules do not bend, and by submitting to them, Kenya can finally host the continent’s best and reap the benefits of that.