Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa is confident that Harambee Stars will qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Morocco in 2025.

Kenya are in Group J with Cameroon, Namibia, and Zimbabwe and Mwendwa, looking back at how the national team has performed over the year, is confident of a chance to the next finals.

“Look, our national team, Harambee Stars, has not lost a match this year, and this is because of FKF’s focus on the game and efforts on the team, and we are still improving, we can do better, and we are striving to do better,” Mwendwa said as quoted by a local publication.

The FKF chief said it is not a matter of trying but a case of making sure that Harambee Stars qualify for the Morocco finals.

“It is very important to qualify for the AFCON; it is extremely important. We are in a group that we believe we must qualify, and we expect that Harambee Stars will qualify.

“These are not those days when we say we will try to qualify; those days are gone. Now we are playing good football. The way we played against Ivory Coast in the World Cup qualifiers, the way we played against all the teams in the group, we expect that Harambee Stars will qualify for AFCON in Morocco,” he added.

Home grounds

As Kenya focus on both AFCON and World Cup qualifiers ahead, the availability of approved home ground has been a challenge.

Moi International Sports Complex in Kasarani and Nyayo Stadium are Kenya’s main venues but both have been unavailable because of ongoing renovations.

“That expectation wasn’t there before, but the only thing is that we may not play at Nyayo Stadium because now CAF is saying they want to host (CHAN) in Kenya and one other country; that is what I am hearing, and they (CAF) have requested we close the venue for a few renovation works,” he said.

Mwendwa said that after inter-club continental matches for both Gor Mahia and Police FC, Nyayo Stadium will be closed.

“We have approval for Gor Mahia and Kenya Police to play their CAF inter-cub competition matches at Nyayo, after which we will close Nyayo; we will get rid of the playing surface completely; we have told the Ministry of Sports about what CAF wants, and they are beginning to do it; and therefore, we will prepare Nyayo for another four to five months to host CHAN next year,” the FKF chief concluded.

Meanwhile, Harambee Stars will take a shot at the 2025 finals after missing the last edition for they were serving a FIFA and CAF suspension.