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Nyayo Stadium to be closed for renovation after Kip Keino Classic, Ministry of Sport announces

Nyayo National Stadium. Photo Courtesy

By Michael Kirwa | 16 Apr 2024

The Mashemeji Derby set for next week on Sunday will be the last event at Nyayo National Stadium as the facility is set to be closed for renovations

The Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports has announced that the Nyayo National Stadium will be closed for renovations starting Monday 22 April.

The last events to be hosted at the venue before the closure will be Saturday’s Kip Keino Classic and the highly-anticipated FKF Premier League clash between eternal rivals Gor Mahia and the AFC Leopards, which is scheduled to take place at the venue on Sunday 21 April.

The Ministry of Sports said in its statement that the closure of Nyayo Stadium has been occasioned by it being designated as Kenya’s official CHAN 2024 host venue after consultation with the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The Ministry’s statement, however, did not provide details about what happens to the initial plans of CHAN 2024 matches being hosted at the Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega, which was closed for renovation in January for purposes of making it ready to host CHAN 2024 matches, which are tentatively scheduled for September 2024.

The Ministry further hinted that the renovation works on the Nyayo National Stadium will take more than two months. In its statement, the Ministry also said that it and FKF have entered into consultations with CAF and FIFA regarding the venue for Harambee Stars’ next 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers home matches against Burundi (June 3) and Cote d’Ivoire (June 11) in Kenya.

The possibility of Harambee Stars hosting those matches in a foreign country is high, as the only other stadium in the country, the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani, which could have served as an alternative, is also close to renovations to make it ready to host the matches during AFCON 2027, which Kenya is co-hosting with East African neighbours Uganda and Tanzania.

Harambee Stars hosting those two FIFA World Cup qualifiers matches away from home go against the promise Sports CS Ababu Namwamba had given in September last year that Harambee Stars will honour its home fixtures on home soil.

Addressing the press then, CS Namwamba gave an assurance that Kasarani and/or Nyayo would be available to host Harambee Stars’ home fixtures for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Nyayo National Stadium has closed for renovations twice in the past seven years.

In 2017, the venue was closed for renovations as the country geared up preparations to host CHAN 2018, which was eventually held in Morocco after Kenya failed to get stadiums ready on time.

Those renovation works, which cost KES 650 million, lasted three years and saw the venue become an all-seater stadium. The venue also got a new façade with the face-lifting of the VIP area and the relocation of the dressing room from underneath the VIP pavilion to the western end of the stadium.

However, despite its reopening in September 2020, it was not until early 2022 that the venue was used again to host football league matches and its closure leaves the Police Sacco Stadium and the Ulinzi Sports Complex as the only available FKF Premier League match venues in Nairobi.