The perennial headache posed by substandard sports facilities

The lack of quality football pitches in the country has proved to be a major headache for both the local football administrators and clubs plying trade in all tiers across the country.

Other than complaints of poor officiating in league matches, coaches have been up in arms against the Football Kenya Federation for hosting matches on poor playing surfaces.

AFC Leopards assistant coach Tom Juma says the quality of the pitch influences the outcome of a match.

“At AFC Leopards, we coach our players to display a good interchange of passes to entertain the fans. Such kind of play can only materialize if we keep the ball to the ground, which in turn calls for a smooth playing surface,” Juma said.

“If the pitch is bumpy, players have difficulties controlling the ball and keeping it constantly to the ground.”

Juma said the construction of Camp Toyoyo in Nairobi eased off the pressure of obtaining a training ground.

Once a dusty field, Camp Toyoyo in Nairobi's Jericho estate has since been revamped and facelifted with artificial turf.

The 1000-capacity facility has hosted National Super League (NSL) matches and served as the training ground for local teams from the time it was officially made public on July 29, 2015.

Among the teams that have benefited from the facility include traditional Kenyan Premier League giants AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia, KCB as well as the local community club, Jericho All-Stars.

The refurbishment of the facility, which cost an amount in the region of Sh90 million also saw the construction of changing rooms and floodlights courtesy of the Constituency Development Funds (CDF) through the former area Member of Parliament Benard Mutura.

The more financially endowed teams have resolved to put up their facilities to put the problem to rest once and for all.

For instance, on February 12, KPL debutants Kenya Police lay the ground for the construction of a new stadium where they will train and host their league matches.

The club held a ground-breaking ceremony at the CID Training School in South C, Nairobi with Deputy Inspector General Edward Mbugua, club chairman Nyale Munga and chief executive officer Chris Onguso gracing the event.

"Kenya Police are just a few months from owning a Stadium,” read a statement posted on the club's Facebook account.

The construction of the pitch was meant to ease off the ballooning pressure on the FKF Caretaker Committee who have grappled with the nagging headache of identifying quality venues for top-flight fixtures.

The committee's competitions secretary Ali Amour decried a dearth of quality pitches and hoped the government would fast-track the refurbishment of the existing stadiums.

Amour admitted that there was a dire need to identify more quality pitches for top-tier matches but said they would have to do with the existing ones as they look for alternatives.

"The FKF Caretaker Committee has put plans in place to ensure top-flight clubs are hosted on quality pitches. The state of the pitches hosting top-flight matches is not very encouraging and that's why we decided to take some of the matches to Nyayo Stadium,” Amour said.

He also took issue with crowd trouble during matches.

“We have asked all the teams to ensure they control their fans during matches to avoid any ugly incidents that have been witnessed in the past.

“We have some plans to reward the teams at the end of the season. Something is already in the pipeline and we are going to make everything public in the coming days.

At the moment, KPL fixtures are held at Nyayo Stadium, Utalii, Ruaraka, Moi Stadium, Kasarani, and Kasarani Annex which are all located in Nairobi.

Other facilities are Bukhungu Stadium (Kakamega), Sudi Stadium ( Bungoma), Wundanyi Stadium (Taita), Mbaraki Sports Club (Mombasa) and Thika Stadium.

The City Stadium in Nairobi had long been used for topflight matches before Kasarani and Nyayo came into existence.

Back in  2016, the stadium was shut down by the Stadia Safety and Security Committee after being found to have fallen below the minimum standards.

The artificial turf, which covered the main grounds was worn out due to poor maintenance. Worst still, the absence of running water left the washrooms and dressing places in a pathetic state.

Three years later in September, City Hall embarked on a frantic rehabilitation process, but the exercise stalled midway for some unknown reasons.

The facility is now set to undergo an upgrade estimated at a whopping Sh1 billion, according to the Nairobi County Annual Development Plan for the financial year ending June 30, 2023.

This is part of the Sh1.05 billion that was set aside for sports and recreational facilities.

“For Sh1 billion, City Stadium will have a new look and attractive stadium which will be fitted with modern equipment," the plan reads in part.

In October 2020, City Hall announced it will work with the national government to expedite the process in line with the response to former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive that emphasized a collaborative effort between the two levels of government.

It is said 65 percent of Phase One was completed including, gridding and plastering of the main sitting terraces, and construction of two ablution blocks that were fitted with basic utilities.

The VIP lounge was similarly fitted with sanitary rooms and a kitchen, while the two dressing rooms were furnished with relevant equipment.

However, City Hall announced plans to construct four new state-of-the-art stadia aiming to address the need for more sports and recreational facilities for the youth in the county.

The new stadia were to be built as per Fifa standards and will be located in Dandora, Jacaranda grounds, Kariokor and Kihumbini. So far, work has commenced only at Dandora and Kihumbini.

At the same time, ADP for FY 2022-23 has allocated Sh50 million for the completion of Dandora Stadium. Last year in October, concerns had been raised over the stalled Sh350 million Dandora Stadium despite the contractor getting full pay.

The stadium should have been completed in July last year, but activities ground to a halt —80 percent into the work.

The contractor, M/s Scanjet Construction Limited, deserted the site in September 2019.

The stadium was to be unveiled in July 2020 but the plan ran into headwinds when the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) opened investigations into the tendering process and irregular payment of Sh196 million for the project.

This is after the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) flagged irregularities in the awarding of the tender, alteration of contract specifications, suspected irregular payments and forgery of documents while also questioning the standard of the work.

In February last year, former President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that construction works at the Sh350 million stadium resume amidst investigations by EACC.

In July 2020, Dandora residents took to the streets to protest the delay in completing the Sh350 million project and vowed to start using the stadium.

Already, more than 3,000 seats had been installed in the terraces with changing rooms and floodlights fitted.

Another facility established in the city that continues to serve its purpose is the Kaloleni handball pitch in Nairobi.

The multi-million handball court was established in 2017 to tap and nurture talent in Nairobi.

The state-of-the-art facility was the idea of Denmark-based Kenyan international Brian Mathew and the Makadara Constituency Development Fund.

The national handball women’s team coach Peter Mwanthi who guided Kenya to a sixth-place finish at the 24th Summer Deaflympics in Brazil is one of the beneficiaries of the handball pitch in Kaloleni, Nairobi. Mwanthi currently trains the national women's team at the facility.

“After the Summer Deaflympics in Brazil, we decided to start a local league to sustain the supply of personnel to the national team. The Kaloleni handball pitch has proved to be useful to this end.

In June, former President Uhuru Kenyatta officially opened Phase One of the ultra-modern Jamhuri Sports Ground in Woodley.

The sports complex, whose construction started in August 2020, will comprise three football grounds, a rugby pitch, and two running tracks among other sporting facilities when complete.

The new Jamhuri Sports Ground will have 3 food courts, a children's playing area, 5 earth berms, 2 picnic sites, a police post, modern housing, a clubhouse, 2 changing rooms, and adequate parking.

A collaborative effort between the national and the county governments also gave rise to the modern Uhuru Sports Complex in the Embakasi West constituency.

All in all, the absence of standard facilities has been costly for the East African country.

Kenya was stripped of the right to host the 2018 African Nations Championship because of delays in its preparations as the Confederation of African Football opened a new bidding process.

CAF cited "accumulated delays" in Kenya's preparations for CHAN. CAF decided to take the tournament away from Kenya at an executive committee meeting in Accra, Ghana.

"With an overwhelming majority of the members present, it was decided to withdraw the hosting rights of the competition from Kenya in the light of accumulated delays from reports of the various inspection missions conducted in the country, the last of which took place from 11 to 17 September 2017," Caf said.

Only one of the stadiums meant to host games was deemed ready and Kenya's government only approved a US$40 million budget to host the tournament, with just four months to go before the official kickoff.

When the Jubilee administration unveiled its manifesto in 2013, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto pledged to build nine stadia across the country.

The two leaders also promised to refurbish all the existing facilities.

A whole term elapsed without any of the said facilities being delivered to the anxiously awaiting nation and the government sought to appease local sports enthusiasts who were now on tenterhooks with yet another promise in 2017.

Wote stadium in Makueni is still being developed and neither the pitch nor the track has been put up. The underground excavation has been partially done and the perimeter wall is yet to be raised.

This is despite the contractor having been paid Sh104 million well in advance. An evaluation of Kinoru Stadium in Chuka Town reveals that the facility was upgraded at a whopping Sh900 million.

There were some hiccups in the process with delays noted after the contractor issued a notice to stop works due to non-payment of Sh488 million.

Little is known about the development of the facility in Moyale. The Sports Kenya Board had earlier committed to complete it by mid-July.

The same timeline was given for the Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret and the Ruring’u Stadium in Nyeri.

Kamariny is still incomplete even as Auditor General's report released in August 2021 revealed that the contractor had abandoned the site.

In Kiambu, the stadium in Kirigiti is one of the stadia still under development by the Ministry of Sports.

Construction work on the historic stadium was 50 percent complete by last June. The cost of the 16,000-seater facility was Sh600 million.

Addressing the media in March last year, President Ruto said the planned construction of the stadium in Kisumu was interrupted when an issue with the piece of land arose.

Construction of the Sh415 million Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium in Kisumu, however, began in late 2020 and recently played host to the Africities Summit.

The plans for the Mombasa Stadium also stalled over land issues, according to Ruto. There is no word on when construction will begin.

Sports Kenya officials paid Sh537 million for a feasibility study of three international stadiums that were to be built in Nairobi, Mombasa and Eldoret at Sh110 million.

According to the Auditor General, there was no evidence that the feasibility study and designs served any purpose thereafter.