Reprieve for fans as CAF okays Nyayo Stadium for Kenya vs Gabon match

Kenyan fans will finally watch their national team Harambee Stars play live at home after missing the privilege for almost a year.

This good news comes after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) gave the green light for Kenya’s crucial Group ‘F’ 2026 World Cup qualifier against Gabon on March 24 to be played at the Nyayo National Stadium.

The match will be used as part of a test drive ahead of the CAF Africa Nations Championship tournament (CHAN) in August.

 CAF confirmed this on Sunday, 23 February 2025 after a two-day inspection tour by a high-level CAF delegation led by the Director of tournaments and events Samson Adamu.

Harambee stars used Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, Malawi for their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Burundi and Ivory Coast in June 2024, before adopting Nambole Stadium in Uganda for their Afcon 2025 qualifier match against Zimbabwe on July 2, 2024.

Stars later played Cameroon at the same venue, before battling South Sudan in the CHAN qualifier in September and October 2024.

Stars captain Michael Olunga and the former Stars head coach Engine Firat complained of lack of the 12th man’s support as one of the reasons they failed to qualify.

“We have six games in three months from September, October and November in the qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and we badly need our home support. In African football at the moment, you need to win your home matches to stand a chance and for us, we need to play our home matches at home,” Olunga said after their back-to-back barren draws with Burundi and Ivory Coast in the World Cup qualifiers.

Stars concluded their fixtures against Namibia at the Peter Makoba stadium in South Africa, to finish a disappointing third three points behind Zimbabwe who grabbed the second ticket with nine points, five behind Cameroon who topped group J with 14 points. Namibia finished bottom with two points.

Local football lovers who couldn’t afford the flight and accommodation to cheer Harambee Stars complained as Nyayo and Kasarani stadiums remained closed for renovations ahead of the CHAN 2025 and AFCON 2027 tournaments set to be hosted in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania under the “pamoja” Umbrella.

The government couldn’t keep their promise as the deadline for the stadium renovations kept shifting with stars playing her home matches away from home.

“I’d like to thank Kenya for the commitment to make sure the tournament is a success. A lot of people were excited about the Chan draw organized in Nairobi.

“Congratulations to Kenya because there has been great progress since January which means that work has not stopped even after the tournament was postponed (from February to August),” Adamu told Kenya’s LOC members in a debrief after the weekend inspection tour.

The CHAN tournament was set for February 2025 but was postponed to August 2-30 2025 after all three host nations failed to meet the high standards required for a successful continental championship. 

Kenya is fourth in Group F of the Fifa 2026 World Cup qualifiers behind Burundi, Gabon and Ivory Coast, while Gambia and  Seychelles languish at the bottom.

With the final touches being put at Nyayo and Kasarani stadiums,  fans will be hoping the Mexican wave and the isikuti dance will flow as they support their beloved team.

“We thank CAF for this gesture. It is important for Kenya’s technical and management officials to gain high-level organizational skills and keep a legacy for Kenya even after the Chan and Afcon tournaments in all aspects of the organization,” Myke Rabar, the CEO of Kenya’s Chan/ Afcon  LOC, said