In 1996, Kenya had the rights to become the first ever East African country to host the Africa Cup of Nations.
However, they lost the chance when the government informed the Confederation of African Football (CAF) they were not ready and South Africa got the opportunity.
The Bafana Bafana went on to win their first and only Afcon title in history in one of the most organised tournaments to date.
Kenya was at it again getting the rights to host the 2018 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) but again failed to show readiness and were stripped off the rights to host the second biggest men’s national team competition.
Two chances have surfaced again with the nation now handed the rights to co-host CHAN 2024 early next year and the 2027 Afcon with neighbours Uganda and Tanzania.
Shockingly, it is Kenya which appears to lag behind with the CHAN coming in a month’s time as they don’t have a ready facility in terms stadia available by now.
There are fears that the ghosts of 1996 and 2018 could still haunt the Kenyans as neither Moi International stadium, Kasarani nor Nyayo stadium which have been formally earmarked to host CHAN are not ready with renovations.
Kenya, unlike Uganda and Tanzania didn’t even have a standard stadium to host their international matches in the Afcon 2025 qualifiers something that derailed their campaign.
Nevertheless, Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen remains confident everything will be in place by the time Caf makes a final inspection on the facilities.
“With the benefit of hindsight, we put ourselves under pressure by hosting CHAN,” Murkomen told BBC Sport Africa.
“If we had taken more time to think through it, maybe, perhaps we should not have done so.
“But now that we have committed ourselves, we have decided that we will do everything in the books humanly possible to make sure that we achieve what we need to do.”
In case Kenya is passed fit, it will be the first time three countries jointly a tournament reserved for players who feature in their national domestic leagues across the continent.
The tournament will be considered as a precursor for the Afcon 2027.
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