REVEALED: Kenya was the main reason CAF postponed CHAN until August

Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, one of Kenya's two venues for the CHAN.

Following the decision of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to postpone the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN), a source revealed to Pan-Africa Football that the main reasons for the postponement are related to co-host Kenya's inadequate preparations. Kenya was set to co-host the competition with fellow East Africa nations Uganda and Tanzania.

Previous reports on Pan-Africa Football revealed doubts regarding the readiness of Kenya in the buildup to the tournament due to a myriad of issues but particularly the Kasarani Stadium and Nyayo National Stadium. After the news of postponement arrived on Tuesday with an official statement from CAF, our source confirmed that Kenya's issues were the main factor:

"Even though Uganda and Tanzania were not 100 percent ready in terms of venues (or facilities in general), Kenya was the major let down and it is the reason why CAF felt the best option was to postpone the tournament until August 2025 to give them time to complete their renovation work," the source, who is in Kenya's Local Organising Committee (LOC) but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, told Pan-Africa Football.

"CAF are looking at having the best tournament hosted by the East Africa region and it meant more matches were not to be held in Kenya (because they were not ready), and that meant teams that will reside in Kenya (during the period of the tournament) will have to move around Uganda and Tanzania to play their matches, and CAF felt it will be costly."

Despite the postponement, the tournament draw scheduled for Wednesday will go on in Nairobi at 20:00 local time (17:00 GMT). 17 of the 19 teams have been determined with CAF announcing that two open spots caused by the withdrawal of North African nations Libya and Tunisia will be awarded to teams who win a qualifying competition that will be staged before the finals.

Qualified Teams

CECAFA: Hosts: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, along with Sudan

WAFU A: Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania

WAFU B: Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria

UNIFFAC: Central Africa Republic, Congo, DR Congo

COSAFA: Angola, Madagascar, Zambia

UNAF: Morocco