The highly-awaited Mashemeji Derby will not be played at Kasarani Stadium, as initially reported, after host team AFC Leopards secured a different venue for the match.
AFC Leopards will now host arch rivals Gor Mahia at Nyayo Stadium and not Kasarani as initially stated on Tuesday.
Leopards host Gor Mahia in the first installment of the Mashemeji Derby with the match, initially slated to be played in November 2024, having been cancelled due to a lack of a suitable venue at the time.
It looked like lightning was going to strike twice when Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda expressed his frustration on Tuesday over his team’s inability to secure either Nyayo or Kasarani, even hinting at taking the match to Tanzania or Uganda.
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Ingwe had announced on Tuesday that the match will be played at Kasarani but it emerged that that would not be possible as the stadium is still a busy construction site as it undergoes a facelift to host the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN 2024).
However, on Wednesday, Shikanda expressed optimism that Nyayo will now be the venue for the high stakes clash, which pits the two most popular teams in the country.
“We are having a meeting at Nyayo Stadium at 4pm today and we will make it clear after that,” Shikanda told Pulse Sports on Wednesday when asked where the match will be played.
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This comes after the Leopards supremo had confirmed to Citizen Digital that Nyayo will indeed host the match after Sports Kenya, the state’s stadia management body, finally yielded to their request to have the derby played there as the stadium is also undergoing some refurbishments for CHAN 2024.
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“We are expecting a positive response from the government regarding Nyayo Stadium’s availability. I urge Leopards fans to turn up in large numbers to support the team once Nyayo is confirmed to host the biggest fixture in the country,” Shikanda told Citizen Digital.
“We cannot play at any venue other than Kasarani or Nyayo. Since Kasarani remains unavailable due to the ongoing canopy installation, we’ve written to Sports Kenya for Nyayo Stadium. If all goes well, the derby will kick off at Nyayo this Sunday at 4:00 PM.”
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Due to the high-risk nature of the match, the derby has always been played at either Nyayo or Kasarani but Leopards ran into headwinds last November when both venues were unavailable due to renovations as Kenya prepared to host CHAN 2024 that was initially slated to kick off on February 1 before it was moved to August.
Ingwe and K’Ogalo have not experienced the best season yet and head into the derby with Gor Mahia in third position on 36 points, two more than fifth-placed Leopards, although the FKF Premier League champions have bossed this fixture down the years, including last season, when they completed the double over their bitter rivals.