By Mark Baber
August 22 – With qualification for the 2018 African Nations Championship winding up this evening, it remains to be seen where the final tournament will be held, as The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announces they are delaying a crucial inspection visit to Official Host Kenya until September 7.
CAF has also postponed its Cameroon inspection visit for the AFCON 2019 championships.
A CAF delegation which visited Kenya in June had said they would be returning at the end of August to make a final decision on whether Kenya should be stripped of its hosting rights due to the lack of progress in preparing stadia to host the matches. Now, according to Local Organising Committee (LOC) Deputy Chief Executive Officer Herbart Mwachiro, the country will have a few more days to make some progress.
In what is likely a triumph of hope over expectation, Mwachiro told local media: “Hosting rights for CHAN remain with Kenya until CAF officially say otherwise. There has been a widespread belief that we will not host but I am confident that we can be ready in time.”
According to Mwachiro the contractor for the work required on the Nyayo National Stadium “has already started work.” He also expressed the opinion that, “things are moving on a bit faster especially after the elections. By the time CAF IS coming in September, everything will be on course.”
In a statement which gives little reassurance, Sports Kenya Public Relations Officer Rakhi Asman told local media: “I can confirm that works have began at Nyayo Stadium and the rest of contractors will be on site from tomorrow. We completed giving out the contracts at the weekend.”
Kenyan media has long been pessimistic about Kenya’s prospects of staging the tournament, evoking memories of 1996 when Kenya was set to host the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) but pulled out with the tourney heading to South Africa.
South Africa, Morocco and Ivory Coast have been named as potential replacement hosts.
The 2018 edition of the African Nations Championship, which includes players playing in their own national leagues, kicks off in January 2018, with Morocco, Libya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Cameroon, Uganda, Sudan, Angola, Namibia and Zambia having qualified and Guinea and Senegal battling for the final berth later today.
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