Kenyan fans will once again miss the opportunity to watch their national team Harambee Stars in action after Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa confirmed the unavailability of Nyayo Stadium for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
Kenya, who are drawn in Group J alongside Cameroon, Namibia, and Zimbabwe are scheduled to kick off their qualification campaign with a home fixture against the Brave Warriors of Zimbabwe at home on September 2. They will then travel away to face the Indomitable Lions on October 7 and return home to host the same side on October 15.
After Cameroon, Kenya will travel to face Zimbabwe’s Warriors away on November 11th before they wind up their preliminary matches with a home match against the Brave Warriors of Namibia on November 19th.
However, all the home matches will be played away after the visiting Confederation of African Football (CAF) inspection team ordered the closer of Nyayo for renovation work after hosting inter-club competition matches involving FKF Premier League champions Gor Mahia and domestic Cup winners Kenya Police.
According to Mwendwa, the renovation work will take close to five months. “I have bad news for Kenyans in regards to the availability of Nyayo Stadium for the AFCON matches following the recent tour of the facility by the CAF inspection team,” Mwendwa said as quoted by Flashscore.
“Unfortunately, Harambee Stars will not be able to play their AFCON qualifying matches at home, they will play away from home, that is the reality and we better live with it.
“CAF recommended for Nyayo to be ready to host CHAN and AFCON, we must rework the playing surface by removing the entire grass and planting it again, the main problem with Nyayo as per the CAF team is the playing surface (grass is not up to the required standards), and lightning, which already is being worked on and should be 70% done.
“We have already communicated the findings by CAF by writing to the government through the Ministry of Sports detailing the demands and we believe they are committed to undertaking the work required so that we don’t lose CHAN and AFCON.”
Mwendwa continued: “The whole process of renovation will take at least five months of work and it means Harambee Stars will not be able to play at the venue, and with Kasarani undergoing similar work and the new Talanta Stadium not ready yet, I am sorry to say we will have to get an alternative venue outside the country.”
Unlike the 2026 World Cup qualifiers where Kenya were forced to play Burundi and Ivory Coast away in Lilongwe at Bingu National Stadium, Mwendwa confirmed the AFCON qualifiers will be played closer to Nairobi.
“What I can assure the fans is that this time round, we will not play far away from Kenya, we will make sure we play closer to Kenya so that our fans can be able to travel and cheer the team,” added Mwendwa. “I don’t want to say where (which country) or which venue we are looking at, but be assured it will be closer to home, and this information will be issued to the public when we have secured the venue.”