NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 13 – Harambee Stars skipper Michael Olunga admitted that Ivory Coast midfielder Seko Fofana asked him whether there were no better pitches in Kenya than the Bingu Stadium in Lilongwe, where Kenya hosted Les Elephants in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
Stars were forced to host their two qualifiers against Burundi and the Ivorians in Malawi, as Kenya’s two international stadia, Nyayo and Kasarani, have been closed down for renovation.
While the Kasarani Stadium is undergoing major refurbishments and should be opened by the end of the year, the Nyayo Stadium was recently closed down for minor adjustments, though it is not yet clear when the facility will be re-opened.
The qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations are expected to start in September, and Olunga believes for Kenya to qualify, they need their home ground advantage as much as possible.
Need for home fans in September
“We have six games in three months from September, October and November in the qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and we need our home support as much as we can. 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.
He added; “We are talking about AFCON 2027 which we are hosting but first we need to qualify for the 2025 competition and if you look at the team we have now, we are in a good way. We need to try and qualify and we need that home support.”
Stars have only qualified for the AFCON once since 1992, the 2019 showpiece that was staged in Egypt.
The government and the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) have both continually reiterated that for a good performance at the 2027 AFCON which Kenya co-hosts with Uganda and Tanzania, there is a high need to qualify for next year’s event in Morocco.
Unfortunate to host games in Malawi
Olunga believes as much, but is quick to point out that without the much-needed home support, it will be difficult to achieve that result.
“It is unfortunate that we hosted our two games here in Malawi because we really wanted to play at Nyayo infront of our home fans where we were assured of massive support. I just want to urge the government to try and improve our infrastructure to meet CAF standards so that come September, we play at home,” further added Olunga.
He also states; “It is such a shame for a country like Kenya, where we have many facilities, not be able to have just one that meets CAF standards. We have so many resources as a country and I believe we can use them to help us have good stadia.”
Meanwhile, the captain has thanked fans who made it to Malawi to cheer on the team, albeit in minimal numbers, and said they felt the love and it worked a length to motivate them for a good performance.
