•The duo of AFC Leopards and Tusker were bound to lock horns at the facility on Sunday but were dealt a blow as the venue will be hosting Chapa Dimba na Safaricom tournament.
•Leopards are calling on the government to reopen Nyayo and upgrade more facilities in the country to help clubs cut costs.
Kenyan Premier League clubs affected by the unavailability of the Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos this weekend have once again petitioned the government to speed up the renovations at the Nyayo Stadium.
AFC Leopards and Tusker were bound to lock horns at the facility on Sunday but were dealt a blow after learning that Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom tournament will be held at the venue.
Leopards, who are supposed to be the home team, opted to take the encounter to Afraha Stadium but asserted that the trip to Nakuru is relatively expensive as compared to Machakos.
Title-chasing KCB and Kariobangi Sharks were also set to be affected by the unavailability but were lucky their clash will be played on Friday.
“We are lucky our match will be played on Friday,thus we will continue with our plans. Had the match been planned for the weekend then it would have been difficult for us to seek an alternative,” said KCB assistant coach Godfrey Oduor
Leopards called on the government to re-open Nyayo and upgrade more facilities in the country to help clubs cut costs.
Ingwe, who are limping financially, admitted that playing both their home and away matches away from the capital city was milking dry their meagre earnings.
The club’s team manager Tom Juma said taking the match to Afraha was expensive and urged Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed to ensure the March deadline set for the re-opening of Nyayo is met.
“We would have wished to play our match at Machakos but we understand that the venue is booked for another event. We can not do anything to change that but playing at Afraha is slightly expensive. Clubs are over burdened by lack of facilities in Nairobi and we ask the government to speed up works at Nyayo,” said the former Kenyan international
Similarly,Tusker team manager George Opondo conceded that the the venue change and lack of standard playing surfaces was proving costly.
“The only advantage is the notice came early and we were able to plan for the match. It is also a reprieve for us as Leopards did not take the match to Bukhungu which would have made it expensive for us. Lack of facilities in Nairobi hurts all clubs and it's high time the government intervened,” he added.