NAIROBI, Kenya, January 5, 2025 – The official draw for next month’s Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) is set for January 15 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.
The draw will involve 18 teams that have secured their tickets to the continental bonanza, including co-hosts Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
The others include: Morocco, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Congo, DR Congo, Zambia, Angola and Madagascar.
The news symbolises a huge sigh of relief for Kenya where uncertainty has permeated the football landscape over whether the country would be ready to co-host the event.
Slow progress of works at the Kasarani and Nyayo Stadiums — designated venue for the matches — have not inspired confidence in the last six months with rumours swirling that Rwanda were to be co-opted as co-hosts in place of Kenya.
However, with the formation of a local organising committee (LOC) in December by immediate former Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, pace of the works on the two stadia have picked up.
Consequently, Kenya is expected to be ready to go by January 20, with its fellow co-hosts having met all the conditions of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) as far as stadiums are concerned.
It will be Kenya’s first ever continental football competition following previous failures to do so in 1996 and 2018.
In 1996, the country lost the hosting rights for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) to South Africa before suffering the same fate, 22 years later, by relinquishing the CHAN to Morocco.
The country is also set to co-host the 2027 Afcon, alongside Uganda and Tanzania, and a successful CHAN will go a long way in boosting the confidence of an entire continent in the East African countries.
