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WHY KENYA NEEDS A NEW INTERNATIONAL STADIUM FAST

Kenya has made itself a footballing laughing stock. We were all shocked when Confederation of African Football (CAF) banned Kasarani Stadium late last year from hosting international games as the stadium "lacked several Caf criteria and requirements in order to properly host international senior competitions.." Before we even recorvered from the shock, FIFA followed suit and banned the country - for different reasons - from participating in any international games. It must have come as a shock to many, but we should have seen all these coming. Kenyan football has flirted with danger for so long. 

Kenya's football administration is a joke. Our elite, top tier league is non-televised, and until recently, lacked a sponsor. Think about that for a second. Think about it again. Nigerian Premier League, South African Premier Soccar Legue, Ethiopinan League and even Zmbian Premier Legue is beamed all over the continent. Even the third tier league in England is broadcasted all over the world yet The Kenyan "Premier" League cannot be shown even in our own country! What are these guys smoking? This is no small matter! Football cannnot attract corporate funding if it's not broadcasted. Enterprises put money into the game because of the advertisement they get. Without corporate sponsorship, the game has suffered and taken a huge step backwards. Our footballing talent is not exposed to international markets, clubs struggle to stay afloat and have resorted to terminating players' contracts just to make ends meet. At the core of all these is lack of braodcasting.

Lack of sporting facilities further exercerbates the problem. As we speak, Kenya has not even one stadium fit to host international football games. This is a big insult to the country that boasts the biggest economy in East and Central African Region. Tanzania completed the construction of the 60,000 seater Benjamin Mkapa stadium in 2007. Rwanda is constructing stadiums for fun. Cameroon built a new 60,000 seater capacity Olembe Stadium for AFCON 2021 and refurbished about 4 others for the tournament. Nigeria recently comissioned a 61,000 seater Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja. Kenya's economy is far much better than most of these countries yet we, on the other hand, have constructed 9 "cowshed-style stadiums" across the country with corrugated ironsheets and steel beems, non of which is fit to host even local league games. 

Now, the 35 year old stadium we were counting on has been banned and we're acting surprised. Kenyans should demand a stadium. We should not allow ourselves to be the only country in Africa without a CAF accredited facility fit to host international football games!


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