The eighth edition of the biennial association football tournament organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), featuring national teams consisting of players currently playing in their respective local leagues, will kick off on August 2nd and run until August 30th.
On Monday, the Kenyan government, through the Ministry of Sports, handed over Kasarani Stadium to the Local Organising Committee - marking a critical milestone as the country accelerates preparations for the tournament.
The African body has already picked Kasarani as the venue to host the closing ceremony and final of the tournament, and it will also host Group A matches. Teams in Group A include Kenya's Harambee Stars, Morocco, Angola, DR Congo, and Zambia.
Meanwhile, Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam will host the opening match, while Nelson Mandela Stadium in Kampala, Uganda, has been designated to host the third and fourth matches of the event.
Kenya in top gear and fully prepared
According to Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Salim Mvurya, the handing over follows extensive refurbishments carried out in line with recommendations by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) during their routine inspections, a clear indication that Kenya is in top gear and fully prepared to host the tournament.
“I have today (Monday, June 30th), officially handed over the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, to the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) - marking a critical milestone as we accelerate preparations for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) scheduled for August 2025,” said Mvurya, who was joined at the event by Sports Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi, members of the LOC Steering Committee led by National Chairperson Nicholas Mosonye, senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, and officials from the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports.
“The Kasarani Complex, along with its two adjacent training grounds, will serve as the main venue for CHAN 2025. It will host the final match and also serve as the base for our national team, Harambee Stars.
“This momentous occasion is not only a proud achievement for Kenya but also for the entire East African region. It reaffirms our standing as a premier destination for international competitions and sets the stage for hosting future continental tournaments, including the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).”
Kenya, under head coach Benni McCarthy, will be based at Kasarani and will play their opening fixture at 15:00 local time against the Democratic Republic of Congo at the same venue. Later, at 18:00 local time, Morocco will take on Angola at Nyayo Stadium.
However, the tournament will kick off on Saturday, August 2nd, in Dar es Salaam with a fixture between co-host Tanzania and Burkina Faso at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium at 20:00 local time.
On Sunday, at 20:00, action will return to Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Tanzania, where Madagascar will play Mauritania. The opening matches in Kampala will be played on Monday, August 4th, 2025, when co-hosts Uganda play Algeria at 20:00 local time, but before that, Niger will play Guinea at 17:00 local time at the same venue.
Mvurya further explained why the government had handed over the stadium to the LOC. “They also have to use the ground and test it with matches, and we have been relying on playing at Ulinzi Sports Complex, which is also part of the CHAN, so it gives LOC a great opportunity to test the ground,” explained Mvurya.
On the readiness of Nyayo Stadium, which will host the opening fixture between Morocco and Angola, Mvurya said: “There were additional recommendations from CAF that we build a perimeter wall, and that is what is remaining, but the work will be completed in the next two days.
“The perimeter wall is being done outside the main pitch, and it was recommended to improve on security, but inside the stadium or the playing surface, there is nothing remaining, and I can confidently say, everything is ready.”
On Harambee Stars preparations ahead of the tournament, Mvurya explained: “We are going to work closely with Football Kenya Federation (FKF) to make sure that the team gets the best preparations ever ahead of the tournament.
“We will support the Federation in whatever they need because we want the team to perform and win the trophy. They will be playing on home soil, so it will be important that they do everything to make sure the trophy stays here.”
After opening against DR Congo, Kenya’s second fixture will be against Angola on Tuesday, August 7th, before they face Morocco on Sunday, August 10th and wind up their group fixtures against Zambia’s Chipolopolo on Sunday, August 17th.
Government warns Kenyans against vandalism
Mvurya took his time to send a warning to Kenyans not to vandalise the refurbished facilities, saying the government was spending a lot of public funds to do the work.
“When we do this sports infrastructure we are spending public funds, and it is very unfortunate that the same public goes ahead to destroy a public facility, and even when we are in democratic society, democratic country, we need to be very careful on public facilities, and also private businesses,” Mvurya told Flashscore in a separate interview.
“We can have our views, we can have our democratic space without destroying property, whether it is a public property or private, so I think that incident is very unfortunate and that is why we are even enhancing the wall and in the next two days some of those places will already be covered, and we will also enhance CCTV, so that we can be able to monitor and arrest those kind of situations.
“But, I think it is very unfortunate that we use public resources - like you can see the new face of Kasarani, it looks very good, and we don’t expect the same public then to come back to do vandalism, it means we go back to do a new budget, and then we can’t make progress.”
He concluded: “When we have such a facility like we have here, then we all need to take responsibility as Kenyans to protect these facilities, so I think I want to urge everybody else: let us not use the excuse of demonstrations, and protesting to destroy public and private facilities.”
Zanzibar have been added to host the tournament’s matches with the New Amaan Stadium, which recently staged a successful CAF Confederation Cup 2024/25 final between Tanzania’s Simba SC and RS Berkane of Morocco, set to host Group D matches involving Senegal, Congo, Sudan and Nigeria.
