NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 14- Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa has admitted that the state of the Kinoru Stadium in Meru and the Kipchoge Keino in Eldoret offer the biggest headache as Kenya looks to convince CAF they will be ready for next year’s African Nations Championship (CHAN).
Slightly over three months before the tournament begins, work at the Kinoru Stadium is just but taking shape and construction was at its primary stage when the CAF team visited on Wednesday.
The eight-member CAF inspection team led by second vice president Constant Omari is expected to find more or less the same situation at the Kip Keino Stadium when they land for inspection on Friday morning.
“Kinoru and Kipchoge Keino are where there are problems. Work hasn’t picked up with as much pace but we are bolstering contractors to ensure that work goes on well and we are focusing so much on that. They (CAF) are fairly happy with Nyayo and Kasarani,” Mwendwa said on Thursday after the CAF team inspected the Kasarani Stadium.
The 60,000-seater facility which recently hosted the IAAF World Under-18 Championships is more or less ready with only a few areas needing polishing. It is scheduled to host the opening and closing ceremony as well as Group A matches.
The CAF team and members of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) were scheduled to meet Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko on Thursday evening but was later called off as the county chief was said to be held up in another function.
“We are looking at whether we can schedule it for another day because we were told late on that he (Sonko) is not available,” LOC Deputy CEO Herbart Mwachiro told Capital Sport.
-Kipchoge Keino Stadium-
The visit to Kipchoge Keino on Friday will be their last before the team holds a meeting with Sports Ministry officials on Saturday. According to the schedule, they are also set to meet Deputy President William Ruto.
A decision on whether or not Kenya retains the hosting rights will be made during a CAF Executive Committee meeting in Accra, Ghana on September 23 and the decision will rely majorly on the report filed by the inspection team.
According to the LOC, Nyayo should be up and ready by October 20 while Kinoru and Kipchoge Keino are scheduled to be complete by mid November.
Meanwhile, Mwendwa has said the team is more worried about the country’s political stability especially with the October 17 fresh Presidential elections.
“The biggest issue to them is not even about the facility, but the political situation in the country. They are saying their sponsors are not happy with the political climate and are asking whether we can have a conducive climate for tournament,” the FKF chief noted.
“I will be headed to Kinshasa this weekend where hopefully I can convince them that those issues will not affect us. The Government has given an undertaking in writing and the minister has given security guarantees,” Mwendwa further revealed.
FKF continue to hold faith that the tournament will still be held in Kenya even with increased decibels on the sounds of South Africa or Morocco being on high alert as potential replacements should Kenya fall short of the required standard.
