Rugby fans rally behind Kenya Shujaa against French Renegades during the 2025 Safari Sevens match at Nyayo National Stadium in October 11, 2025.
Nairobi Sevens, the opening leg of the World Rugby Sevens Division II scheduled for February 14 and 15 at Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi, has sold out.
Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) chief executive officer, Thomas Odundo, on Monday revealed organisers had sold a total of 22,000 tickets for the two-day sevens show, which translates to 11,000 tickets per day, contrary to widely circulating social media reports of 13,500 tickets being sold each day.
Odundo, who is also the tournament director, advised anybody without a ticket not to bother coming to Nyayo Stadium.
This being a World Rugby event, Odundo said crowd control and security were critical. He said all precautions had been put in place ensure the safety of the fans and teams.
“Sports Kenya gave us a capacity of 15,000 seats, which we physically counted. We put on sale 11,000 tickets and reserved the rest for World Rugby, our sponsors, the teams, and the media,” said Odundo.
He declared that Kenya was ready to host the world.
Odundo said they had earlier indicated they would sell tickets at the gate, but the response to the ticket sale online was overwhelming.
“We have never sold out before, and our strategy was to encourage people to purchase online, which was cheaper than at the gate. It has worked well,” said Odundo.
He revealed that offers for bulk purchase, with a pack of seven going for Sh 2,100 and a pack of 12 going for Sh3,600 also contributed to the quick sale. Regular tickets were going for Sh500 (advance) and Sh700 (at the gate).
Nyayo Stadium originally had a capacity of 30,000 that was reduced to between 18,000 and 22,000 when it was fitted with seats after renovations in 2020.
Rugby fans follow the action during the Safari 7s at RFUEA ground in Nairobi on November 19, 2023
Read: What it will cost to stage World Rugby Sevens Series Div II tourney in Nairobi
A maximum of 18,000 fans were allowed at the stadium for the 2024 African Nations Championship held in August last year.
The Nairobi Sevens will be the second World Rugby Sevens event to be staged in Africa after the South Africa Sevens, which has rotated in cities across Africa’s largest economy. Cape Town has hosted the leg since 2015. Twelve teams, six men’s and six women’s, will battle it out on Valentine’s Day weekend at Nyayo.
The men’s Division II has Kenya, the United States of America, Uruguay, Germany, Canada, and Belgium, while the women’s Division II has Kenya, Brazil, China, Spain, South Africa and Argentina.
After Nairobi Sevens, the series will head to South America for back-to-back championships, with Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, staging the second leg on March 21 to 22 and Sao Paulo, Brazil, hosting the last leg on March 28 to 29.
A Kenyan rugby fan cheers the Kenya Lionesses during a match against Ghana in the Africa Women’s Sevens Cup at RFUEA ground in Nairobi on November 15, 2025.
The top four teams after the three-leg men’s and women’s championships will join the eight teams from the World Rugby Sevens Division I in the World Championship Series that will feature three events.
They are: Hong Kong (April 17-19), Valladolid, Spain (May 29-31), and Bordeaux, France (June 5-7).
The winners will be crowned world champions, while the four teams that will finish at the bottom will be relegated to Division II, and the remaining teams will play in the 2026/2027 World Rugby Division I Series.
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