Sad news for Kenyans: the Harambee Stars will host the AFCON Qualifiers abroad.

Kenyan supporters will once again be denied the chance to witness their national team, the Harambee Stars, in action as Nyayo Stadium will not be available for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, according to Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa.

On September 2, Kenya, who were placed into Group J with Cameroon, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, will play the Brave Warriors of Zimbabwe at home to begin their qualification campaign. On October 7, they will depart to play the Indomitable Lions, and on October 15, they will return home to host the same team.

Following their encounter against Cameroon, Kenya will play the Warriors of Zimbabwe away on November 11 before finishing their preliminary schedule at home against the Brave Warriors of Namibia on November 19.

All of the home games, though, will be away from home as a result of an order from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) inspection team to close Nyayo for renovations following the hosting of inter-club competition matches between Kenya Police, the winners of the domestic cup, and Gor Mahia, the winners of the FKF Premier League.

Mwendwa estimates that the remodeling project will take around five months to complete. According to Flashscore, Mwendwa stated, “I have bad news for Kenyans regarding the availability of Nyayo Stadium for the AFCON matches following the recent tour of the facility by the CAF inspection team.”

“We must accept the fact that the Harambee Stars will have to play their AFCON qualifying matches away from home. This is a regrettable truth that we cannot change.

“The main issues with Nyayo, according to the CAF team, are the playing surface (grass is not up to the required standards) and lightning, which is already being worked on and should be 70% done. CAF recommended that Nyayo be prepared to host CHAN and AFCON. We must rework the playing surface by removing the entire grass and planting it again.

“We believe they are committed to doing the work necessary so that we don’t lose CHAN and AFCON. We have already communicated the findings by CAF by writing to the government through the Ministry of Sports detailing the demands.”

“I am sorry to say we will have to get an alternative venue outside of the country,” Mwendwa said, adding that “the whole renovation process will take at least five months of work and it means Harambee Stars will not be able to play at the venue.” Kasarani is also undergoing similar work, and the new Talanta Stadium is not yet ready.

In contrast to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which Kenya had to play Ivory Coast and Burundi away from home at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, Mwendwa announced that the AFCON qualifiers will take place nearer Nairobi.

“I can guarantee the supporters that this time, we won’t play too far from Kenya; instead, we’ll make sure to play nearer so that our supporters can come and support the team,” Mwendwa continued. “We are looking at a venue, but I don’t want to say which country or where, but rest assured that it will be closer to home. This information will be released to the public once we have secured the venue.”