NAIROBI, Kenya, May 15 – The highly anticipated 2020 Safari Rally World Rally Championship (WRC) event that was scheduled for July 16-19 has now been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has announced.

The Safari Rally was warming up to return to the WRC calendar after meetings last year between the FIA, Kenyan government and the Kenya Motorsports Federation and excitement was already peak with the route already mapped out.

“We are grateful to the patron, HE President Uhuru Kenyatta for his unwavering support and counsel as we deliberated on the next best steps. We also owe great gratitude to the president of the FIA Mr. Jean Todt and the WRC promoter led by Oliver Cielsa for their unyielding support since we commenced engagements to return the Safari Rally to the WRC circuit,” the statement from the CS said.

The spread of the coronavirus has continually made it difficult for the new season of the World Rally Championship to continue with several events already postponed as the world limits international travel and sports gatherings.

The Argentina, Portugal and Italy legs of the Championship have already been postponed to later dates and while many expected the season to restart in Kenya in July, the hopes have now been dashed.

According to the Calendar, the next rally would have been in Finland in August before New Zealand and Turkey in September, Germany in October while Wales and Japan were to close the season in November.

“The organizing team continues to work hard to ensure that we deliver a world-class event. We are at an advanced stage to complete the Service Park located in Nakuru County and are in line with the set completion timelines,” Safari Rally Project CEO Phineas Kimathi stated.

He added; “We encourage the drivers and all stakeholders to keep in touch with the secretariat as we ready ourselves for the new dates.”

The post Safari Rally WRC event Postponed to 2021 over coronavirus appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 15 – “Being calm and collected was the strongest aspect of my game, I don’t panic.”

Kenya’s legendary bowler Thomas Odoyo recounts with a nostalgic smile as he begins his exclusive interview with Capital Sport.

Odoyo, 42, is one of the greatest cricketers that Kenya has produced, being the only player to date to have taken 100 (One Day International) ODI wickets for Kenya and the first Associate player to complete the double of 1000 runs, a feat he achieved at the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup.

-How the love of cricket came-

“I grew up at Kenya Institute of Education which is next to Nairobi Gymkhana, so Jimmy Kamande, Josephat Ababu myself and others, we used to jump over the fence and be tennis ball boys. While we were there, we got interest to paly cricket.

“Those days cricket practice used to be every evening unlike today where they only do it on weekends, because of work and school commitment. Some of the players could not make it to training so they needed people to fill the slots. We got that opportunity to bowl for them and that’s how we loved the game and started bowling,” Odoyo, who went to City Primary before later joining City High School remembered.

“Those days clubs had their own ways of developing their own youngsters. By then we were in the club (Nairobi Gymkhana) and they absorbed us. After bowling, slowly we were taught how to score and bat. On Saturdays when they had games, they invited us as scorers and fill the squad whenever necessary.

“I was a 12th man for a number of years before I started playing for the Gymkhana ‘B’ side where I featured for one year, then transited to the ‘A’ side where I was the 12th man for half season thereafter I joined the national team at the age of 17. I learned cricket on my own by watching, then got the tips from coaches to better it,” Odoyo narrated.

-Why Cricket in Kenya is at its lowest-

With the current state of Kenyan Cricket being at its lowest, Odoyo, a former national team assistant coach and an ex-Kenya Under-19 team head coach explains what he thinks is the reason.

“We are in a terrible situation; the structures are all wrong. No contracted players, no cricket is being played, all that is there is just for fun, more of pass time. The league in Mombasa is not stronger than Nairobi would be, it’s just better organized. If we can manage to sort out the wrangles, I think Nairobi league is stronger.

“It’s bad for the sport. As much as there are board room fighting it means cricket is not going on and that is what is happening now. There is no consensus for anything and the sad part is that the people who are wrangling, most of them played cricket, they should know that cricket and politics don’t mix,” Odoyo, who played at the 1996,1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 World Cups, advised.

He continued; “There needs to be a consensus about everything they are doing. If not, then they are wasting time. It’s always a good feeling seeing former players managing the sport, I want to be part of the administration one day, but nobody wants to be an administrator where the game is not played.”

Odoyo advocated for the strengthening of clubs and involving them to make the league better as it used to be.

“There’s no way you will ignore the clubs and expect cricket to go on. You cannot run cricket from the office. You need the clubs to support you. As much as we want to spread the game to the Counties we have to involve clubs that started it all.”

-What made Kenyan Cricket tick those days-

“Those days we had club-based structures and the professional players who came to play for clubs were very good the likes of Martin Jacobs, Sandeep Patil, Lalchand Rajput who has coached Afghanistan, Chandrakant Pandit, who was the coach of Mumbai Cricket team among others. They ended up playing for the India national team,” Odoyo, the 2007 ICC Associate ODI Player of the Year, said.

“The professional players helped raise the quality of cricket in the country by making the league more competitive. This made us stronger when we played for the national team, we matched the quality of the cricket playing nation. 

“Most of us grew up watching the West Indies and having the Indian players coming here, we had a different brand of cricket – it was more of a blend of West Indies and Indian which when we played the likes of Scotland and Ireland we used to beat them easily.”

“The reason we used to make it to World Cups is because we played associates. By that time, the top associate was Bangladesh. Kenya and Bangladesh were rivals because we used to compete with them a lot.

“Another thing that made it easy for us to perform is because we had a group of players who had gelled and understood our game. We did not need too much guidance of the coach to know what we were supposed to do. The coach was to motivate us and give us the plan. It was very easy for players to know their role and executed it and that’s how we managed to qualify for the World Cup most of the time,” Odoyo, who was an all-rounder revealed.

-What to do to restore the game-

Apart from ending the wrangles, Odoyo underscored that the national governing body should come up with structures and with the help of the government embrace exchange programmes with top notch cricket playing nations like India.

Odoyo revealed that sometime back India Prime Minister, Narendra Modi offered to bring coaches from his country to share their expertise on the game while in return Kenya were to send athletics coaches.

“I believe the offer is still valid, its only for us to take it up. It’s a challenge for the national organization to follow it up with the government to make it happen. It’s a good initiative because our coaches need to learn from the best as well.

“We have cricket grounds and that is the advantage so it’s just making use of them. We can work with counties to devolve cricket, I’m working with the Siaya County Government to come up with something,” Odoyo, a father of two daughters added.

-World Cup journey-

1996

“I played my first World Cup when I was almost 17 years in1996, I was a kid and my teammates were older than me. I would count my agemates to be the likes of Steve Tikolo, Kennedy Obuya, Martin Suji and to an extent Maurice Odumbe, but they were still older than me. Later, those are the people that I played with for some years.

“The World Cup was co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Our biggest achievement is when we beat West Indies in Pune, India. The feeling was awesome because we grew up idolizing them,” Odoyo recalled of his World Cup debut where Kenya was drawn against Sri Lanka, Australia, India, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Kenya lost their three games and were eliminated after the Group Stages.

1999

During the 1999 World Cup, Kenya was placed in the same first round group as hosts England, and India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. They lost all five of their games in the tournament.

2003

The 2003 World Cup was a historic one that is remembered to date after Kenya managed to make it to the semi-finals for the first time ever. The tournament was to be held in South Africa, with Kenya hosting their two matches against Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

New Zealand opted out, handing walkovers.

Kenya lost to India in the semis, who won by 91 runs.

“In 2003, the team was properly gelled. The eight core players had been together for a while, the likes of Kennedy Obuya, Martin Suji, Collins Obuya, Aasif Karim, Brijal Patel, Steve Tikolo, David Obuya, Ravindu Shah and Hitesh Modi.

“The only ‘home advantage’ that we had was the conditions at that time, because the wickets during that World Cup were slow because of the dry nature of the course so it made us dominate, same in Sri Lanka it suited our style of play.

“We won against Zimbabwe, we took it home, played Sri Lanka at home we took advantage and won. We took all our chances and what made it for us is how we bowled. It was our best performance bearing in mind all the turmoil we had in cricket.”

2007

Kenya hosted Division One of the World Cricket League at three grounds in Nairobi, playing against Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands and Scotland. Kenya also won this event, beating Scotland in the final. This was followed by the 2007 World Cup, Kenya’s fourth World Cup.

Kenya beat Canada in the first round, but lost to England and New Zealand, thus missing out on the Super Eight stage.

“I have respect for coach Roger Harper. He came in when Kenya cricket was in disarray and he assembled a team consisting of youngsters. The only senior players were Peter Ongondo, Steve Tikolo, and myself. That enabled us to qualify for the 2007 World Cup.”

2011

Kenya qualified for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, but failed to win a single match, being eliminated in the Group Stages. Kenya lost to New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Canada, Australia and Zimbabwe.

-Best moments-

“I will treasure the 2003 appearance to the semis of World Cup that’s special. Many big cricket nations would wish to play at that level in the World Cup.

“In 2007 when I got associate player of the year award in ICC in South Africa, that achievement was special because my performance is what made Kenya qualify for 2007 World Cup,” Odoyo, who played two seasons in Bangladesh, said as he cherished the moments.

-Worst moments

“When I was a coach for the national team during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in Namibia, I felt helpless because everything was going wrong despite all the efforts I had put in place. After that tournament where we performed poorly, I resigned,” lamented Odoyo.

-Can you come back to coaching?-

“Cricket will always be in my blood and when it comes to cricket I will stop what I’m doing to go and help, so if the opportunity comes, I will create time to go and help cricket because I owe my life to cricket. I will always be a cricketer.”

-Parting shot-

“Cricket can be used as a source of livelihood for many youths in this country. The administration (Cricket Kenya) needs to work with the government to try and help develop the game and take it to the highest level. Kenya has a lot of talent, its only getting our structures right.”

The post Cool and meticulous bowler Odoyo recalls Kenyan cricket glory days appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 17 – The Kakamega High School ‘Green Commandos’ have produced a plethora of talent over the past decades in Kenyan football and often than not, youth coaches prefer a journey down Western Kenya to scout talent at the school because they know, they will not be disappointed.

One particular class that still holds its shoulders high from the tens of thousands of alumni of the institution previously known as the Government African School Kakamega (GASK) is the class of 2014.

They deflated an equally talented Kisumu Day High School to win the National School Games football title at a fully packed Bukhungu Stadium and all but one in that class have gone on to establish solid careers in the top-flight.

Among the high-flyers are Erick ‘Marcelo’ Ouma and Joseph ‘Crouch’ Okumu who are now plying their trade in Sweden Premier League.

“I usually look back and I am proud of these boys. They were a group of very dedicated players who were disciplined and hard-working on and off the pitch. The principle who was there at that time, Mr Minishi (Oliver) was also very supportive of the team. Anything we needed, he put it as a number one priority and he went out of his way to ensure we succeeded,” Brendan Mwinamo, the long serving Green Commandos coach said of the team.

At some point, almost seven of those players from the class of 2014 were part of the national under 20 team and some as well went on to graduate to the senior national team.

Okumu and midfielder Apollo Otieno walked straight into the Chemelil Sugar starting 11 after finishing school in 2015 as did Marcelo who was a regular at a very competitive Gor Mahia squad and Vitalis Akumu into Western Stima.

“What was so special about that team was the unity and discipline,” says Marcelo, currently turning out for Swedish top tier side AIK.

He added; “Every player there was technically gifted so it was easier to execute game plans and win. If you looked around, you had so many quality players and it was also so hard for the coach to pick a starting 11. Everyone has the ability if called upon,” added the versatile defender.

His sentiments were echoed by Okumu who is also in Sweden playing for Elfsborg.

“Man! we had a good team and it was so enjoyable to play with them. At some point, we had almost half of the Under-20 team from Kakamega. My dream one day is to see all of us in the national team. I know it can happen because we have the ability,” Okumu, nicknamed Crouch for his tall frame states.

Coach Mwinamo vividly remembers the determination of the 2014 team to clinch the crown especially noting that it was held in their home turf.

“If these boys wanted something, they went for it. They always had targets for themselves and worked hard to achieve. I am not surprised that all of them are playing in good teams now,” states Mwinamo.

In the 2014 campaign, they went undefeated from the zonals to the nationals, without conceding a single goal. In a tense final in Kakamega, they were stretched to extra time by Kisumu and ultimately won the national crown with Alphonse Ndonye, currently playing at Mathare United scoring a late penalty. A Kisumu Day player handled the ball after current Wazito forward Piston Mutamba flicked the ball inside the box.

“It was a very tough game but we had some very rare drive. Everyone wanted to win and we worked for each other. We would push each other even if it meant at some point arguing with each other. It was that passionate,” Mutamba recalls.

Harun Nyakha, now with Ushuru FC but has had a good spell with AFC Leopards was the skipper of that team and he has some solid memories especially ahead of that final.

“The fans used to come to the school and encourage us. They would bring milk and bread for us after training and they really pushed us to succeed. Before that game, they told us it was a derby between the ‘small’ AFC Leopards and ‘small’ Gor Mahia.”

“We couldn’t afford to let them down. What was special about that team was the unity we had. We were so focused and everyone wanted success. Captaining that team was a huge privilege for me to be honest. I was part of the team from Form one and when I took over from Mike Wandera, I felt really honored.”

“The Principle (Minishi) was really supportive of us and he gave us the best we could ask for,” he added.

And the national crown was just a cherry on top of the cake as that year, the class of 2014 were able to help the Commandos sail to promotion into the National Super League.

“It made us stronger because competing against tougher teams as bunch of school kids worked wonders on the mental strength of the boys. They had played together for some time and the gelling as out of this world,” Mwinamo sates.

The celebrated tactician has since moved to Musingu High School where he hopes to sail them into similar successful waters as he did with Kakamega.

“We are also playing in the lower tiers and hopefully, we can succeed too,” he states.

But, where are they now?

Timothy ‘Chita’ Odhiambo (Goalkeeper, Ulinzi Stars), Vitalis Akumu (Western Stima), Pistone Mutamba (Wazito FC), Alfred ‘Kemboi’ Wekesa (sidelined with injury, ex AFC Leopards), Erick ‘Marcelo’ Ouma (AIK, Sweden), Harun Nyakha (Ushuru FC), Bernard Biko (Chemelil Sugar), Selemani Majenga (Western Stima), Edwin Mukolwe (Nairobi Stima), Apollo Otieno (Tusker FC), Joseph Stanley ‘Crouch’ Okumu (Elfsborg, Sweden), James Mazembe (Kariobangi Sharks), Kelvin Monyi (Western Stima), Brian Wesa (KCB), Benson Mutinda (KCB), Alphonce Ndonye (Mathare United), Vincent Chacha (Ulinzi Stars), Stephen Etyang (Kakamega Homeboyz), Brian Andanje (Kangemi All Stars), Omar Rashid (continued with school).

Coaches: Brendan Mwinamo, Eliud Omukuya, Barnabas Lihanda, Kevin Asuba.

The post How talented Kakamega High School class of 2014 graduated to success appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 18 – Former Kenyan international Edward Rombo, also a renowned lawyer and the first Kenyan to play professional rugby has been named as the new Kenya Rugby League (KRL) head coach.

In his role, Rombo, 53, will lead the League National team Program in collaboration with Giving Rugby Foundation to Provide Technical support to the Federation’s Development side in the area of Skills and Defense.

Rombo is an Internationally Accredited Rugby Coach with more than 30 years playing and coaching experience in both Rugby Union and Rugby League, codes of the game at the highest level.

He became the first Kenyan to play Professional Rugby League when he signed up for Leeds RLFC in England. During his International stint he went on to sign up for other teams including Dewsbury and Featherstone Rugby League Clubs.

“As a pioneer rugby league player from Kenya. I’m happy to play my part in ensuring the sports takes root in Kenya and have a strong National team hoping to take part in the future world cup,” Rombo said as he accepted the new role.

“The Rugby League is a simpler game version and my philosophy would be to utilize our natural running abilities and keep the ball a live as much as possible,” he adds.

KRLF development Partner, Give Rugby Foundation has embraced and welcomed the new Development saying it now moves Rugby League in Kenya to the next Level and world class stage.

According to KRLF Chairman Nyakwaka Adhere says the League is glad to have a resourceful Individual of Rombo’s caliber, whose Wealth of experience will inject the much-needed impetus to the infant Rugby League in the Country and region.

“Once the Covid-19 situation is controlled in Africa, we will have a short domestic league, with 10 clubs during which the National team will be picked by selectors. This will be in readiness for the maiden Kenya vs South Africa test match at the end of the year,” he said.

Rombo Profile Summary:

Captain Nairobi School 1986, Captain University of Nairobi, Mean Machine 1989, Assistant Coach and Team Manager Kenya 7’s 2003-2008, Coach Mwamba RFC 2009-2010, Director KRU 2010-12.

Advocate High Court of Kenya and runs Rombo & Co Advocates.

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NAIROBI, Kenya, May 18 – A famous motivational quote goes; “There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs”, and Harambee Stars skipper Victor Wanyama has taken the advice literally as he prepares to begin his Major League Soccer campaign proper.

Wanyama had just joined the United States top-flight, signing for Thierry Henry’s Montreal Impact, and played one match, a Champions League tie, before the sweeping effects of the coronavirus pandemic caused a stoppage to world sports.

Despite the little bump in his first ride in the MLS train, Wanyama is keeping himself ready for a restart in the league that had only gone into the new campaign by two matches.

Top of his stay-at-home training regime is running through 46 flights of stairs at his Montreal apartment daily as additional training.

“I stay at an apartment in the City with 50 floors and I live on the 46^th floor. So every day, as part of my extra training, I go down to the ground floor and run up to the 46^th floor to my doorstep. It is tough, but I have to do it to remain fit so that when everything goes back to normal I will be ready to go on,” Wanyama told Capital Sport from Montreal.

He added that the coaches at the club have given them daily routines and they train together twice a day via video-conferencing app Zoom.

“The club has provided for us some bikes and gym equipment to complement what we are already doing. We also have several gym sessions and all this is still in isolation. Training alone is not easy but as professional players, we need to work hard,” stated the midfielder.

Wanyama made his debut for Montreal on March 11, barely a week after joining the side and provided an assist as they lost to Olimpia 2-1 in a Champions League tie.

The tough and robust midfielder had looked forward to turning his around his season after struggling with Tottenham Hotspur where he was limited to very few starts in the new campaign after a summer move out of the club failed to materialize.

“I had really prepared well to get my football back in Montreal and had worked hard in training. I had only played one game before the virus halted the season. The team had also done some good preparation and had won one and drawn the other of the first two league games of the season,” Wanyama further states.

He adds; “It has definitely been difficult to settle down well because this happened so fast and I was yet to know the city well, but it is what it is. I have very good teammates and they have helped me so much at the moment and I know soon enough I will catch up.”

“The virus has really slowed things down but as now we just have to continue practicing what the health professionals are telling us and hopefully, we will overcome and we can get our football back soon,” he added.

American authorities are looking at June for a possible date of opening up sports activities where clubs can be allowed to train in groups before the season gets back with a probability of mid-June.

“I am really raring to go because I have that hunger back, I have my happiness back and now I just want to enjoy my football, enjoy the city and do well for the club. I would want to win something with the club as well because that is the biggest reason I came here,” states the midfielder.

On working with Arsenal and Barcelona legend Henry as his head coach, Wanyama can’t wait to get started and drink from the well of knowledge that is the former France national team captain and world cup winner.

“He reached out to me before I signed and the conversation we had was enough to convince me to trust in the project. He has very good experience and has achieved a lot in England and Spain as well as with France. His influence will be very important to the team and I am looking forward to learning from him,” Wanyama notes.

Meanwhile, the Stars skipper will continue working the stairs from the middle of Montreal, biking and running on the road to ensure he keeps his fitness intact and get ready for his adventure in North America.

The post Flying through 46 flights of stairs, Wanyama ready when MLS start gun goes appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19 – The Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) and the national men’s basketball team Kenya Morans have taken up social responsibility programs to help cushion vulnerable groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

KHU partnered with the Kenya Red Cross to distribute food hampers to needy hockey players and technical officials within Nairobi, with the exercise taking place at the City Park Stadium, spearheaded by president Nashon Randiek.

With the stoppage of all sporting activities in the country, players who relied on training and match day allowances have been left struggling to make ends meet, especially those who almost entirely depend on the sport to feed their families.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Morans were at the Slum Dunk Academy in Mathare, distributing foodstuff to needy youngsters and their families and spreading the message of hope. They worked in partnership with the Desmond Owili Foundation.

The Australia-based Owili is also part of the national team.

“It is something really great and important for us to share with the community and give the youngsters hope that we will get out of this current pandemic stronger. When you get to the ground that’s when you know that people are really affected and as players, it is our role to be there for them,” Kenya Morans skipper Griffin Ligare told Capital Sport.

The team has already been at the DIWOPA Academy in Kayole as well as the Shauri Moyo basketball family, giving help and hope to the budding youngsters as well as basketball players who have been left struggling to make ends meet.

Next, the team is planning to visit the basketball family in Umoja and extend the helping hand.

“It means a lot to us as players and this is one of the roles we have as role models to these youngsters. We also look to impart that self confidence and belief in them because we are national team players and when they see us with them, they get encouraged and motivated,” further stated Ligare.

The new season of the National Classic Basketball league was yet to tip off and only the national team had been involved in action with the FIBA Afrobasket qualifiers staged in Nairobi in January.

The post Kenya Hockey Union, Kenya Morans help cushion players in COVID-19 distress appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19 – Former Harambee Stars captain Musa Otieno says he still dreams to return to the national team set up in a managerial capacity as head coach, having had several stints as an assistant coach before.

In an exclusive interview with Capital Sport, Otieno says he is working to earn more his coaching credentials, as an improvement to the qualifications he already has from the German DFB.

“I dreamed of playing for the national team and I achieved that and went on to be the captain. My dream now is to be a head coach one day and this is something that is really close to my heart. I am working on my badges and qualification and soon I hope I can achieve that dream,” Otieno said.

He added; “I have been to South Africa both as player and coach and I have also played in the United States. I have come back home to give back to the community and I believe I have been gathering enough experience to help me.”

Otieno was first an assistant coach in 2011 with Zedekiah Otieno as interim head coach and also had a stint working under former coach Stanley Okumbi who was shown the door and handed the junior teams after public pressure.

The ex-skipper has however not gone back to management but has put his attention to working in the grassroot with his organization ‘Kick Off to Hope’.

At the same time, Otieno has lauded the current managerial set up in the national team, saying they have done well to improve the team and especially seeing them return to the Africa Cup of Nations last year.

“Kudos to the team there because they are doing a good job. The success of any Federation is usually on how the national teams perform and so far we have both the men and women’s teams playing at AFCON and we should see more,” states the former defender.

He has also called on the Federation to empower more youth leagues in the country to ensure that talent is tapped from the grassroot moving up.

“We need to have corporates put in more into the game especially in the grassroot. We also need to see fans back to the stadium and this needs all of us from the Federation down to work together for the good of the game,” Otieno also says.

With his Kick off To Hope organization, the former Santos FC man hopes to inspire a new generation of players by giving them an opportunity to showcase and improve their talent.

“At the moment we have close to 150 players in the set up and we want to ensure that we give them a chance to show their talent, to grow and also to improve in life skills. Most of them come from poor backgrounds and football can be their place to improve their lives and their families as well,” he notes.

Adding; “This is the community that gave me everything and several other players too and that is why I decided six years ago that I need to come back home and invest in the youth.”

Otieno says they plan on building up a centre where they will house elite academy players complete with schools as well.

He currently trains his players at the Dr. Krapf Primary School.

The post Musa Otieno still dreams of coaching Harambee Stars appeared first on Capital Sports.

KISUMU, Kenya, May 21 – Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has confirmed that works to face lift the Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground in Kisumu has commenced in a bid to modernize the stadium as per international standards.

Amina, who spoke in Kisumu on Thursday when she paid a courtesy call to Governor Anyang Nyong’o, said the government will work within the timelines to deliver a state-of-the-art stadium at the heart of Kisumu City, which will be completed by December this year (2020).

“We were directed by President Uhuru Kenyatta to put up a stadium to this ground (Kisumu) and make sure its modern and a befitting stadium for the county of Kisumu. That’s why we are starting that journey today, we already have experts from ministry of publics works who arrived yesterday (Wednesday, May 20) and  have been working since they arrived,” Amina said.

“We hope we will get a report very quickly from the team so that we can embark on serious works at the grounds,” she added.

Nyong’o hailed the initiative by the government noting that his administration had already started developing the grounds.

“We have started putting some amenities at the grounds, we have a market, an ablution blocks which are important for a sports center,” said the Governor.

The CS announced that Nyayo Stadium is almost done with Kasarani on course in readiness for the Continental Tour to take place in the country September 26.

“We intend to complete all stadiums that were promised by the national government,” she said.

Amina further noted two stadiums are ongoing in Meru County and are at an advanced stage to complete while two other stadiums are about to start, one in Kiambu County and the modernization of Narok Stadium.

“We have two stadia that we are beginning now, one in Kiambu, we intend to modernize Narok Stadium, we intend to work on Bukhungu Stadium we are working with Governor Oparanya (Wycliffe) to see what we can do to bring it up to standards. We have a Stadium in Marsabit that we are working on, we have Kipchoge Keino phase one and two in Eldoret going on,” Amina confirmed.

In the lead-up to the 2013 General Elections, the Jubilee Government under the leadership of President Kenyatta in his manifesto promised the construction of new stadia in Nairobi, Eldoret, Mombasa, Nakuru and Garissa, but seven years down the line, the pledge is yet to be fulfilled.

-By Ojwang Joe-

The post Kisumu’s Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground commence face lift, says CS Amina appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 21 – The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) has affirmed that it will closely work with federations, the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya and government through the Ministry of Sports to ensure doping is stemmed out of the country.

This was announced by the NOC-K second vice-president, Waithaka Kioni when speaking at the fourth online sports conference on Thursday, where he was one of the panelists alongside Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) CEO Jasper Rugut and his counterpart Agnes Mandu who is the Director Education and Research, with the webinar topic being doping.

Others in the discussion moderated by veteran Sports Journalist, Elias Makori are World Record holder in 5KM and 10KM, Rhonex Kipruto as well as Athletics Kenya athlete’s representative, Milkah Chemos who is a former 3000m steeplechase world champion.    

“You will recall that as we build up towards the Olympics, one of the key areas of concern and attention besides qualifications was the issue of anti-doping and the need to meet all the regulation protocol codes in place,” Kioni, who is also the Kenya Volleyball Federation president said.

 “This matter continues to remain as a huge challenge for us all in our sports sector, particularly athletics, which we must address as a matter of urgency and ruthlessly. What is not in doubt, and I am pleased with the visible efforts carried out by our Athletics Federation, especially in awareness campaigns, is that we do not condone doping in all its forms and character,” Kioni, who is Team Kenya Chef de Mission to the Tokyo Olympics added. 

“We want to walk into the global community of nations such as the Olympics tall, knowing that we are representing as we have always done, very credible and clean athletes for competition.”

“The benefits of doping are short-lived, and the dangers may haunt you for life. NOC-K continues to work closely with ADAK and our affiliates to ensure that doping is a thing of the past,” affirmed Kioni.

-Rugut on ADAK mission-

On his part, Rugut said that ADAK is keenly following the protocols that have been put in place by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to ensure that sportsmen and women in the country are tested and not exposing either the person being tested or the agents into health risk as far as the COVID-19 measures are concerned.

“WADA continues to provide guidance on the best ways to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic that has crippled sport globally. We are aware that some of the tests we are carrying out right now are out of competition and do not require any notice. Overall, we will continue doing our best so that we don’t open a situation where athletes have an open window to use prohibited substances knowing that we might not have a test coming soon and in the process flout existing regulations,” stated Rugut.

Rugut also spoke about the caliber of ADAK’s personnel, saying; “We take our personnel (both in house and volunteers) through rigorous training. They are trained well…going through certification and e-certification regularly to ensure they adhere to international standards.”

And with increasing incidents of Kenyan athletes being flagged by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), for whereabouts failures, Rugut called on the athletes to strictly adhere to the rules set-up to avoid being sanctioned.

“It is your responsibility as an athlete to ensure that your whereabouts are known and are updated.”

Mandu weighed in on the whereabouts scenario, adding, “Athletes are allowed to use their coaches and managers to update their whereabouts. It is however important for them to be within their latest location within the declared one-hour slot.”

Mandu, who was appointed to the WADA education committee, also highlighted some of the measures that ADAK is taking in its bid to ensure that the sporting fraternity is well versed with doping related issues.

“The purpose of anti-doping education is basically to prevent doping. We also are involved in information sharing especially those engaged in competition to deter them from doping. We use value-based education, especially for younger children aged 14 and below and urge them to compete clean,” she revealed.

-Chemos’ advise to athletes-

As a former athlete, who has been in the fore front fighting doping in Kenya, Chemos called upon athletes to view ADAK as a partner who is interested in their welfare.

“When you dope, you are not only tainting your name but your country’s name as well. Athletes should run clean, win right and realize that their actions are bigger than them. I urge them not to fear expressing their views about the same and see ADAK as their partner who mean good for the sport,” Chemos, the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist opined.

Kipruto noted that he had been carrying out his training regime as usual, although he has had to make social distancing changes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kipruto, who also stated that his eyes are firmly set on winning Kenya’s first Olympic gold medal over 10000m since 1968 said, “I am keeping myself clean. My coaches have been proactive in making sure I share my whereabouts, follow a strict diet and avoid prohibited substances.”

He further had this message for fellow athletes, “Athletes should stay focused, disciplined and true to themselves at all times. Train well, eat well, stay aware of anti-doping regulations and be genuine.”

This was the latest in a series of webinars organized by NOC-K since the inaugural one held May 7, aimed at sharing vital information with sports personalities and federations at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has crippled sporting activity globally.

The post NOC-K sensitizes sportspeople on doping in latest online conference    appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 21 – Football Kenya Federation boss Nick Mwendwa was on Thursday quizzed at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) as the state continues an investigation over alleged embezzlement of funds at Kandanda House.

According to senior detectives based at the Kiambu Road government agency, Mwendwa spent the better part of Thursday answering to questions over Harambee Stars’ 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) budget among other issues.

“Detectives wanted to hear his side of the story over claims of embezzlement of funds meant to facilitate Harambee Stars’ participation at the AFCON. There was a complaint made to the sports ministry over how the money was spent,” a senior detective privy to the case told Capital Sport.

The Sh244mn budget given to FKF to facilitate Stars’ preparations to the Cup of Nations has been a thorny issue for the Federation with several quarters making claims that the money was embezzled.

There has also been a case raised over players’ allowances for the tournament.

Efforts to reach Mwendwa for comment were futile as our calls went unanswered. From detective sources, Capital Sports understands that this was not the first time in the recent past that the FKF boss was hosted at Kiambu Road.

Mwendwa has continuously denied any claims of embezzling funds meant for Stars’ AFCON preparations while also submitting documents to support by his claims.

The Federation also paid out allowances for all players involved in Stars’ AFCON journey, and what wasn’t paid was the Sh250,000 winning bonus for the game against Tanzania. Each player who made it to the final 23 in Egypt earned Sh750,000.

The post Football Kenya Federation boss Nick Mwendwa quizzed at DCI appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 22 – Football Kenya Federation (FKF) boss Nick Mwendwa has revealed that his visits to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are normal for a leader of his stature, saying that it is only given prominence by distractors and those he referred to as ‘cartels of the night’ as the Federation builds up towards elections.

Mwendwa was a visitor at the Kiambu Road-based directorate on Thursday and speaking to NTV Sasa on Friday afternoon, the FKF supremo revealed that this was the fourth time he was being questioned by detectives.

“When you are a leader of my status, someone will always make one or two accusations against you and it is your duty whenever called upon to go and answer to those accusations,” Mwendwa said.

He added; “We know this is a period of elections and anyone can do anything to discredit you. We have been there four times now from last year and we have always provided answers to the questions put forward against us.”

Mwendwa was questioned over Stars’ 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) Sh244mn expenditure as well as other funds given to the Federation over which he says he gave concrete and credible answers as to how the money was used.

“Our opponents have been trying every way to find ways to remove me from office, but I want to tell them to go down to the delegates and talk to them. Those are the only ones who can remove us from office. Why didn’t they make noise the other times when we were at the DCI? They are only doing so now, because we are looking at elections,” he further opined.

He has denied claims that the Federation swindled money meant for players’ allowances, maintaining every players was paid every coin of money owed in terms of allowance and the only remainder was the Sh250,000 Tanzania winning bonus that he says is to be paid by government.

Meanwhile, on the Sh50mn qualification reward given by Deputy President William Ruto, Mwendwa said they had an agreement with the players to take a certain percentage to help them settle pending bills and also admitted they negotiated with the players to get some of it.

At the same time, on the thorny issue of the Outside Broadcast van acquired by the Federation, Mwendwa said they closed the case with the DCI in February.

“That is an issue that is in the past and soon we will have the OB van with us,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Federation boss has disclosed that an agreement has been reached with FIFA over the case with former coach Adel Amrouche, saying that Kenya will not be expelled from the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

On the new issues over immediate former coach Sebastien Migne, Mwendwa says theyhave already paid the French tactician a sum of up to Sh12mn while they continue to pay for rent and have given a car to his family which is still in Nairobi.

“We had an agreement signed between us when we decided to part ways after losing to Tanzania and we were to pay him some amount until March this year if he did not get a job. Good thing is that last October he got a job in Equatorial Guinea and we ensured we paid him his dues,”

“But, as it is known, there are challenges here and there with the Federation in terms of finances and we have about three or four million shillings pending with him. Up to last week we had paid him another Sh2mn,” he stated.

Mwendwa also touched on the issue surrounding the elections which have been cancelled two times by the Sports Tribunal with the latest one being because of eligibility issues on the post of president.

“When we came into office in 2016, these same rules were there. There is nothing we have changed. I did not go to court to challenge the rules but I instead went to the delegates and sought my votes. We are ready for the elections and they should also be,” he stated.

The Federation has faced a tumultuous time over the past few months with cases flying in and out of the tribunal over the elections.

They have been put on hold until a meeting between the Federation, government, tribunal and world football governing body FIFA.

The post ‘Cartels of the night’ are playing politics, says FKF boss Mwendwa appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI Kenya, May 22 – Football Kenya Federation (FKF) boss Nick Mwendwa acknowledges the Federation took part of Harambee Stars’ Sh50mn Africa Cup of Nations  qualification reward, after an agreement with the players.

Harambee Stars captain, Victor Wanyama on Monday told Madgoat TV that the Federation wanted to take as much as Sh15mn from the reward given by Deputy President William Ruto, but they negotiated all the way down to Sh12mn.

And Mwendwa, speaking to NTV Sasa on Friday, says they had to negotiate with the players to take a bit of the windfall.

“That money was part of the Sh244mn budget given to us by the Government for AFCON. We had made an agreement with the players and I said this even before the money was out that they will take a certain percentage, and we take another,” Mwendwa explained.

“We had some expenditure from the qualification period that we needed to settle and we agreed with them,” he added.

Wanyama had said he would have wished that the entire sum be divided among all players and members of the technical bench who were part of Stars’ journey to qualify for the Cup of Nations.

“We sat at a round table meeting with all players. At first, I said, let us take Sh45mn then they could take the rest but still it became a bit hard to agree. We negotiated until we agreed that we will take Sh38mn,” Wanyama disclosed.

Mwendwa disclosed that they saw no wrong in what they did, adding that the focus should now be on the fact that the national team is taken care of better.

“While teams in Egypt were going on strike over payment, nothing was heard from Harambee Stars camp. We ensured that all their allowances were paid and the only thing we have not done is pay up the winning bonus from the Tanzania game because the government made that promise,” he stated.

Any player who made the final 23-man squad to Egypt was to earn a total Sh750,000 while those who were axed from the camp in France came back home Sh500,000 richer.

At the same time, Mwendwa says they are working to finish up paying immediate former coach Sebastien Migne, and they have already paid the French tactician a sum of up to Sh12mn. He also disclosed they continue to pay for rent and have given a car to his family which is still in Nairobi.

“We had an agreement signed between us when we decided to part ways after losing to Tanzania and we were to pay him some amount until March this year if he did not get a job. Good thing is that last October he got a job in Equatorial Guinea and we ensured we paid him his dues,”

“But, as it is known, there are challenges here and there with the Federation in terms of finances and we have about three or four million shillings pending with him. Up to last week we had paid him another Sh2mn,” he stated.

The post Yes, we took part of H.Stars’ Sh50mn reward, says Mwendwa appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 22 – “I am stressed and depressed and can’t think straight anymore,” a sportsman, who will remain anonymous, posed to this writer in one of the many interactions over the last one week.

The mental situation of this sportsperson is just but a mirror of what the sports world is experiencing at this moment, now that competitions and events have been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the last two months they cannot do what they know best; going to the pitch to train and in the stadium to compete. For some, they have lost their income and this has more or less worsened the situation especially for those who entirely depend on their sporting talent to lay food on the table.

Two Kenyan sports psychologists have decided to step into the gap and stretch out their hands to help pull sportsmen and women who have found the going tough mentally and drag them into a safe place as the world battles to return to normalcy.

Under the Brain Frees Consultancy, Kanyali ilako, a former Kenyan top swimmer and Rowena Tirop, both holders of Masters in Sports Psychology are offering free online therapy sessions for sportspeople running from May 25 – June 5.

“There is a notion that athletes do not have mental illness or should not be scared of the dangers of getting into mental illness. They are human as well,” Tirop, who obtained her Masters in Sports and Exercise Psychology from the Brunel University in London said.

She added; “With the COVID-19 situation, it has presented a tough and challenging moment for sportspeople and there has been a conversation about mental health. We came together through the Brain Frees Consultancy and thought why not do something.”

“I have been in sports as a player and now a huge fun and I know how it feels.”

Tirop has been working closely with the Kenya Rugby Union and also has experience working with collegiate teams during her time studying in London.

Ilako, a double masters degree holder in the discipline from the University of Thessaly, Greece and University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, was part of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) inaugural online sports conference on mental health two weeks ago.

Ilako has worked with Olympic swimmers in Finland, a League One football team in Greece, ITF EA training centre in Kenya and is an intellectual impairment classifier with the International Paralympic committee (IPC).

The two believe that they can give back to the sporting world at this time and especially for Kenyan sportsmen, most of who are struggling to keep their state of mind in the best shape.

They will offer free sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for the next 12 days.

While most of professional sport all over Africa have psychology as an integral part of their business, not many pro teams in Kenya take it seriously, if at all they do. The most they come close to working on the players’ psychology is during pre-season when a few team building sessions here and there seek to prepare them mentally for the season.

But Tirop believes that Psychology has a huge role to play in developing sports and improving results.

“Teams and Federations should take a keen interest in psychology. The mind plays a big role in everything an athlete does. It improves the performance of the players when they are strong mentally,” she states.

Adding; “They need to learn to re-focus when they fail and bounce back and they also need to learn techniques to overcome challenges. People are different; some are strong willed, while some are not. Some will make a mistake on the pitch and struggle to move on from it and these are some of the areas we are looking at.”

Her dream is to see the field of Sports Psychology grow and more teams and Federations taking it up as an integral part of their organizations.

“We need to take sports more seriously and not just as a hobby,” Tirop advises.

The post COVID-19: Kenyan athletes offered 12-day free online therapy appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 24 – Having been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this year’s Lewa Safari Marathon will be staged virtually, with world record holder Eliud Kipchoge leading the way in preparation for the race scheduled for June 27.

On Saturday, Kipchoge ran in a practice session at the Conservancy alongside Lewa Rangers to help drum up support for the virtual race.

The fastest marathoner in the world teamed up with World Half Marathon giant Geoffrey Kamworor alongside two other athletes, Philemon Rono and Jonathan Rotich.

Kipchoge’s presence at the Conservancy located in Kenya’s North was a boost for the wildlife rangers and Tusk’s Director of Programmes in Africa, Sarah Watson who joined them on the run.

“I urge everybody to participate and just run where they are. We are all part of the human family and we must keep strong, stay fit, observe directives from our government, and know this situation is not permanent.”

“I have never taken part in the Lewa (Safari) Marathon before, but it was very inspiring to run with the rangers today in this beautiful conservancy and motivate them. I would ask the rangers to continue doing a good job, because they are conserving our wildlife and environment,”

Kipchoge struck through the picturesque Lewa terrain, with a mouth-watering background of grazing elephants and buffalos as the Rangers struck in tow, looking to keep up with the pace of a world beater.

It was a win-win day for Kipchoge who also got to experience a different set-up from his Eldoret base where he has been training in isolation since all athletics camps were closed as the world battles to control the spread of the coronavirus.

“My team and I are honored and very excited to have run with Eliud and his team today. Eliud is our brother, friend and supporter who recognizes the challenges that we face as wildlife rangers. This run has boosted our morale and encouraged us to keep going in this difficult time,” said Edward Ndiritu, Lewa’s Head of Anti-Poaching.

Athletes who will have registered will run from wherever they are as they continue supporting the marathon which had hoped to raise close to Sh500mn this year to aid in Lewa’s conservancy projects.

This year’s race was set to be supported by Safaricom and Huawei, with Safaricom having stepped down their annual financial support and instead joined up with the Chinese electronics company to raise the annual budget.

The post Kipchoge helps drum up support for virtual Lewa Marathon appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25 – Rowdy fans have been warned that they will be jailed for vandalizing stadium property, with the Nyayo National Stadium nearing completion and opening set for May 31.

Plastic seats have finally been installed all-round the stadium.

The Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani has been a victim of frequent vandalism, with the plastic seats especially in the lower tier of the sitting area often being plucked off and thrown all over the pitch.

With Nyayo getting a similar seating facelift and the VIP area being glassed all round, there has been fear that the facility will fall victim to easy target during highly volatile matches like the Mashemeji Derby.

“This is a public facility built with public funds and anyone vandalizing is as good as someone stealing money from the public. We will not let that happen,” Sports Principal Secretary Joe Okudo told Capital Sport on Monday afternoon while making an impromptu visit of the stadium.

He added; “We have given a stern warning that we will not put up such kind of an investment and leave it just like that. We will have police presence permanently, not only in Nyayo but also all the others we are putting up and they will be constantly under surveillance.”

Ministry of Works Chief Architect SK Muli has also revealed to Capital Sport that there will be CCTV cameras mounted all round the stadium to ensure perpetrators of vandalism will be nabbed in real time.

Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, the country’s top two most supported clubs have always been fined by Sports Kenya for cases on vandalized seats and other infrastructure, while national team matches have not been spared either.

But Sports Kenya Director General Pius Metto while speaking to Capital Sports says he hopes there won’t be more cases especially after the last derby which witnessed a peaceful atmosphere and was even attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.

“I have had meetings with officials of various clubs and directed them to sensitize their fans through all means possible not to damage our facilities. We have to protect them and any clubs which mess up will be given serious penalties including banning them,” Metto stated.

He added; “This is a national heritage and we cannot allow people to tamper with it. We have put funds into making it of high standards and we need to respect them. I don’t want to single out Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, but we have talked with all clubs.

The post You will be jailed, Sports PS warns hooligans as Nyayo takes shape appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25 – The Ministry of Sports has initiated talks with the Nairobi County Government to take over the rehabilitation and management of the City Stadium that is the  traditional home ground of record Kenyan Premier League champions Gor Mahia.

Sports Principal Secretary, Joe Okudo has revealed to Capital Sports that talks have commenced between the national government and the Nairobi County government, under which the stadium falls, to have it rehabilitated to proper standards.

“We have discussed its take over with the County because it is a County facility. Now we are in good standing with the County government and it is high time we reclaimed the stadium. It was never built to be a market but a stadium, particularly for football,” Okudo said.

“We will come up with a work plan and a budget to ensure that we have done City Stadium within this year,” the Sports PS added.

While it continues to host lower tier matches and club friendly games, City Stadium, christened Tok Komwanda by Gor faithful, has been closed for nearly five years now to Premier League games.

The Stadium was a full-to-capacity spectacle whenever it hosted Gor Mahia matches due to its proximity to the city centre and football mad estates, and its closure has dealt K’Ogalo a huge amount of revenue loss through gate collections.

The facility had also been a refuge for many other teams with medium and low number of fans especially due to its easy accessibility.

There has been a lot of back and forth over its rehabilitation since the days of former Nairobi Governor, Evans Kidero who came into office in 2013 with the promise of raising its standards, but nothing has been done up to date, seven years on.

Its artificial playing turf has been thoroughly dilapidated while the stands and changing rooms remain unattended and unimproved since they were put up.

Okudo says they hope to finish the stadium in time before the year ends to ease off the pressure off Kasarani and Nyayo Stadia and ensure they remain in inch-perfect shape for international events while City is left to stage most of the local league matches.

The Ministry of Public Works is also set to visit the facility before drawing out a plan and making necessary budgets to be forwarded to the Sports Fund.

“We have been told about City Stadium just today. We will send a team there to take a brief on the requirements, and from there we will start plans to ensure we make it to the standards like we see Nyayo National Stadium,” SK Muli, the Chief Architect in the Ministry of Public Works told Capital Sports.

Meanwhile, PS Okudo has promised the Ministry is working round the clock to ensure more facilities are refurbished and availed by the end of the year especially after last week’s tour of Kisumu and Eldoret where they promised to refurbish the Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground to international status.

“It is a commitment we have made and we will work hard to complete all the stadia we have promised. We have about 15 stadia earmarked to be developed between now and December. There is no sports now but we want that by the time we are back, we can provide the infrastructure needed and we can spread sports all over the country and not just in Nairobi,” stated the PS.

The availability of City Stadium coupled with the completion of the Nyayo National Stadium will be a massive relief for Nairobi-based clubs who have been forced to take their matches to Machakos, Nakuru and Narok due to the unavailability of standard stadia in the city.

The post Sports Ministry to take over City Stadium from County Govt. appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25 – There is light at the end of the tunnel.

After failed promises over the last three years since its closure, the Nyayo National Stadium has finally taken new shape and is scheduled to be completed and handed over to Sports Kenya by May 31.

The Stadium was closed in 2017 for renovations ahead of Kenya’s hosting of the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN), but works slowed down after the hosting rights were stripped off by CAF due to poor preparedness.

READ ALSO: Sports Ministry To Take Over City Stadium From County Govt.

Over the last two months, the Ministry of Sports has accelerated the works at the stadium and according to Sports Kenya Director General, the stadium should be handed over by the contractor and Ministry of Pubic Works by the end of the month.

“We are now at 95 percent completion and by May 31 we should be able to finish off all works. We anticipate that after the COVID-19 pandemic, football will be back at Nyayo Stadium,” Metto told Capital Sports on Monday afternoon.

Sports Principal Secretary Joe Okudo went on a random inspection of the facility and also had a meeting with Sports Kenya Officials, the contractors as well as high ranking officials from the Ministry of Public Works.

“We are pleased with the work that has been done here and this is just the last mile of inspection. We had a challenge with the seats because we couldn’t ship them in in time due to the COVID-19 situation but now we have them and everything should be fine,” Okudo said.

READ ALSO: You Will Be Jailed, Sports PS Warns Hooligans As Nyayo Takes Shape

When Capital Sports visited the facility on Monday afternoon, workers were hard at work completing the final rows of seats in a small section of the stands. The seats have been arranged in the colors of the national flag.

The changing rooms have been shifted to the West End of the stadium. There will be four changing rooms; two on either side, with two separate referee rooms, anti-doping room as well as offices, according to the specifications given by the Confederation of African Football.

The VIP dias has also been reconstructed with addition of a third floor and all rooms have been complete with only the final round of wiring and finishing being done.

The landscaping infront of the stands is also ongoing while the new parking area has also been completed. The only concern at the moment is on the roofing of the rest of the stands, with DG Metto saying it is part of Phase Two.

“Public works will do drawings then submit proposal to the Sports Fund for funding and as soon we get the funding we will tender,” Metto states.

Here are more photos of how the stadium currently looks like.

The post IN PICTURES: The new look Nyayo National Stadium, 95pc complete appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 26 – For the next three months, each player in 12 Kenyan Premier League (KPL) clubs will receive a token of Sh10,000 as part of a Sh20 million COVID-19 stimulus package from the Sports Fund, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has announced.

The CS says they have a verified list of players from each club who will be entitled to receive the amount to help cushion them from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are going to release 10,000 per month for 30 players and 5 technical officers for 12 most vulnerable KPL Clubs. This will be a total of 420 beneficiaries. The stimulus package will be for the next two months with a possibility of extension of a third month should we be able to mobilize more funds from well wishers and our partners,” Sports CS Amina told Capital Sport.

“We have agreed that we are starting with KPL because we know the difficulty they are going through. After verification, we have come up with a final list of those footballers suffering the most. We will begin with them and continue rolling out the program for the next 15 days while taking stock,” Amina said on Tuesday.

“We will begin with KPL players because of the distress they are going through and then continue from there. We have a verified list. Previously we had a list with exaggerated numbers before we verified and got the real numbers,” she added.

The news will come as a massive relief for the top-flight players with a huge number of clubs failing to meet their monetary obligations to players in terms of salaries. Last month, betting form Betika gave a stimulus of Sh5,000 to each KPL player.

At the same time, Amina says they are working with other Federations to spread the program further to include more disciplines.

“We are also releasing the same amount of money to our most vulnerable National Team athletes in all our active Sports Federations for the same period of time. This is to enable them continue training for upcoming global events,” CS Amina further stated, in a clarification to Capital Sports.

The Sports Fund has so far given Sh50 million to the Sports stimulus, adding on to an earlier Sh30 million handed to the Ministry. CS Amina has also stated that from next week, they will begin distributing food packages to more sportsmen in distress.

“I am appealing to all corporates to come out and support our sportsmen and women. They bring pride to our country and we will be happy if more companies and well wishers come out to contribute to support our athletes so that they come out of this pandemic stronger doing what they do best,” she stated.

Adding; “We are trying to do this for two or three months and that is why we need support.”

The post Each KPL player to receive Sh10,000 in Sports Fund COVID-19 stimulus package appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 26 – The Nairobi leg of the World Athletics Continental Gold Tour scheduled for September 26 will be named the ‘Kipchoge Keino Classic’, race director Barnaba Korir has disclosed.

The Tour, the first of a kind in Africa was scheduled to be held on May 2 at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani but was pushed to September due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

And with a new date now, the Local Organizing Committee, led by Korir who is also an Executive Committee member at Athletics Kenya, work is already in top gear preparing for the event.

“We have decided to name this event the Kip Keino Classic because every Kenyan knows Kip Keino is the father of athletics in the country and we want to make sure we recognize his contribution,” Korir stated adding, the 10,000m race will also be christened the ‘Naftali temu race’ in recognizition to the former Olympic gold medalist.

“Naftali won gold in this event at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico and we have named that event in his honor. We are also looking for sponsors to market this event so that he can be fully given his honor for the contribution he had on Kenyan athletics,” Korir disclosed.

The events of the day have been classed into three groups; core events presented by World Athletics, and which will have a hefty winning bonus, the discretional events which will be selected by Athletics Kenya as well as the national events.

Korir says this will be an opportunity for Kenyan athletes to test themselves as well as pick some earnings after the difficulty and raging drought brought about by the coronavirus.

“The national events are those which we will allow locals to participate to determine their shape as well as look at how they gauge ahead of the new season. It will also be an opportunity for them to earn something small after all this mess that was brought about by the coronavirus,” said the race director.

He also hinted that a national championship might be organized late August or early September, depending on the COVID-19 situation, to select Kenyan athletes who will participate at the event.

At the same time, he says they are talking to different managers all over the world to see whether they will have a world class field staging the Nairobi meet.

“We are keeping in touch with managers from all over the world to ensure the event is a success. We have received requests from up to 10 managers who are interested in bringing their athletes and we have continued to give them updates on what is happening here.”

“As a result of the pandemic, we might have a problem if the skies are not opened and we are thinking of bringing athletes from Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia in the event that it will be difficult to have others. We are keeping our options open in the event that the worse comes up. But as at now, we are preparing to have the best competition,” Korir noted.

Meanwhile, Korir says they are keeping the option of moving the one-day event to the newly refurbished Nyayo National Stadium open, with Sports PS Joe Okudo having earlier Monday hinted to Capital Sport their desire to have the event opening Nyayo Stadium to the world.

The Organizing Committee was at the stadium Monday and Tuesday inspecting various needs for the event including lighting, tartan track as well as a proposed media area.

“We have had discussions concerning Kasarani and as at now, the event will be there. We have talked to the Sports Kenya Director General and in case of anything, we need a fallback plan. We want to make sure that Nyayo is there and available.”

“We are happy with the renovations which are well done but we would also want to have a new tartant track as well and we are also looking at the TV screen and lighting as well,” Korir noted.

The floodlights at the Kasarani have been specifically made for football matches with the lights focused on the pitch. If an athletics event is to be done heading into late evening, the lights will have to be adjusted for athletics competitions and the quality improved as well.

The post Nairobi’s Continental Gold Tour to be named ‘Kip Keino Classic’ appeared first on Capital Sports.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 27 – Middle distance athletics coach Bernard Ouma has disclosed that athletes have been mentally drained and going through psychological challenges from the effects of the lockdown initiated by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The situation has been further worsened with many events either cancelled or postponed, denying them a chance of earning income and seeing them dip into a struggle, especially those who were not earning from big races before.

“Psychologically, many are going through mental disruptions because of the lack of the norm. They are used to a routine and we have tried to advise them to take it as a normal and use the time to evaluate themselves. In life, not all the time things will be smooth. This is one of the hurdles you have to jump over and it is human,” the tactician who runs the Rongai Athletics Club stated.

He added; “As a coach, this is a time that you need to be very close to your athletes and make them feel normal. They are human as well and we need to help them avoid unnecessary extreme mental problems.”

He has admitted it has been a tough period for the sports community but reiterates he is positive everyone will bounce back stronger from the disruptions caused by the virus which has brought the wheels of the world to a halt.

Ouma led five of his athletes to their first track session since disruption of training on Tuesday afternoon as he prepares them for the Maurie Plant Memorial Race, a virtual competition between Kenyan and Norwegian athletes scheduled for June 11.

The excitement and relief was written all over the coach’s face as he blew his whistle to a welcoming echo at the Nyayo National Stadium and constantly clicked on his stop watch, face mask in tow, as he started the process of peeling off the rust from his athletes.

“It feels so nice to be out and training. We were having a feeling like we were in a cage then suddenly we have been let loose. It is a happy feeling to be on the track after a long time being indoors with minimal activities,” he states.

Ouma’s athlete, World Champion Timothy Cheruiyot will team up with fellow metric mile speedstar and Commonwealth Champion Elijah Manangoi as well as 800m runner Edwin Meli to compete against the Ingebrigtsen brothers; Jakob, Filip and Henrik in a virtual race.

Team Cheruiyot will compete at the Nyayo National Stadium while Team Ingebrigtsen will be in Oslo.

“It is a great way to get us back in the mood. This is just a fun race with no monetary attachment to it but one to show the athletics world that we can come back to life. This will also be a race to entertain the fans and give them something to smile about,” Ouma explained.

After the race, Ouma will prepare his athletes for the new calendar season released by World Athletics. Most of his athletes, led by Manangoi and Cheruiyot will start their season in Monaco on August 14.

“This will be a salvage of the would-be season. Anyone who will be running well in August going on is the one who is training now and we are part of that bandwagon trying to get in shape and perform well for the make-up season,” added Ouma.

He also pointed out he expects a season of shocks, where he believes good athletes will struggle while those not seen as strong will take up the challenge and do well.

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