We will agree on Nyayo venue, warring federation officials say
By Lynette Matheka, January 15, 2021
With Nyayo Indoor Arena already booked by the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) to host its league matches beginning January 23 when the league is set to serve off, Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) teams have been left in the dark as to what will become of their league.
While it would not be the first time that KBF have hosted their league matches away from Nyayo, it was the idea venue this season as most of their alternative hosting grounds, especially in Nairobi, are institutions that might not be open to having outsiders access their facilities as the country battles a pandemic.
However, officials from both federations have maintained that they will reach an agreement as to how they could effectively share the facility without a clash.
KBF, for instance, are scheduled to hold their Elective Annual General Meeting (AGM) on January 23, the same day that KVF will be holding their first league matches at Nyayo. The election has traditionally been held at the Indoor arena.
“We are aware that KVF have been granted the use of the Arena, by the stadia management, from January 23.
We are in the process of looking for a boardroom within Nyayo where the AGM can take place.
Additionally, I have reached out to the KVF officials who were part of the negotiations to acquire Nyayo for their league.
We are in talks to reach an agreement on how we can use the same facility for both leagues,” said KBF acting Secretary General Ambrose Kisoi.
While KBF leagues do not jump off until February 6, the men’s national team, Morans, are set to use the same facility for their training, which was scheduled to begin today, in preparation for the second leg of the Afrobasket qualifiers set for February 19 to 21.
However, information from Sports Kenya on bookings is that the basketball federation had not made official booking for the Arena by the time the agreement with KVF was reached.
“They (KBF) made a verbal inquiry on the availability of the facility and were directed to do a letter on the same but there was no follow up from then,” a source said.