CHAN postponed to August 2025

 The African Nations Championship (CHAN) has been postponed just weeks before it was due to kick off in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the Confederation of African Football said on Tuesday.

The 19-team tournament is for national teams made up of home-based players only and was due to kick off on Feb. 1 but will now take place in August because facilities are not ready.

Zambia was set to feature at the tournament with Wedson Nyirenda in charge of the team.

The three East African countries are due to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals and the CHAN is supposed to serve as a test event.

The delay comes just weeks after CAF president Patrice Motsepe travelled to Kenya for a meeting with the country’s president William Ruto to try and speed up the process.

CAF will go ahead with the finals draw, scheduled for Nairobi on Wednesday, it added, and said the exact dates in August for the tournament would be announced “in due course”.

CHAN was first launched in 2007 to give more opportunity to home-based players as the number of foreign-based players in African national teams increased dramatically.

“Good progress has been made in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with the construction and upgrading of stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals and other infrastructure and facilities for the hosting of a successful TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (“CHAN”) Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2024,” read a statement from CAF

However the CAF Technical and Infrastructure experts some of whom have been based in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, have advised CAF that more time is required to ensure that the infrastructure and facilities, are at the levels, necessary for hosting a successful TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (“CHAN”) Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2024.

The President of CAF Dr Patrice Motsepe said: “I would like to express my deep gratitude to President William Ruto of Kenya, President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda for their leadership, commitment and the good progress that has been made in building and upgrading the stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals and other infrastructure and facilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for hosting a successful TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (“CHAN”) Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2024. I am impressed with the ongoing construction and renovations of the football infrastructure and facilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. I am confident that the stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals and other infrastructure and facilities will be at the requisite CAF standards for hosting, in August 2025, a very successful TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (“CHAN”) Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2024.”

CAF will be conducting the Draw of the TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (“CHAN”) Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2024 in Nairobi, on Wednesday 15 January 2025 at 20h00 Nairobi Time.

The exact date in August 2025 of the commencement of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (“CHAN”)  Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2024 will be announced by CAF in due course.

[Reuters]