CHAN 2024: CAF Increases Kasarani Capacity for Kenya vs Madagascar
- CAF are set to increase the capacity of Kasarani Stadium for Kenya's CHAN 2024 clash against Madagascar, set for Friday, August 22
- The capacity was reduced following serious security breaches two weeks ago during the Morocco match, which saw fans force their way into the stadium
- The Football Kenya Federation and the government have launched initiatives to help avoid breaches that could result in serious punishment from CAF
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Kasarani Stadium will host more fans for the Kenya vs. Madagascar match after CAF lifted the capacity limit imposed two weeks ago.
Source: Twitter
Kenya has been hit with five charges and fined over KSh 12.8 million for security breaches and other violations during CHAN 2024.
Earlier this week, the ticket provider's site, Mookh, crashed as thousands rushed to purchase tickets for the Harambee Stars' quarter-final match against Madagascar.
Why was Kasarani capacity slashed?
Before and during Harambee Stars' win over Morocco, hundreds, possibly thousands, of fans forced their way into the stadium, causing overcrowding.
CAF quickly suspended ticket sales and later limited the number of tickets available to Kenyans to 27,000, representing 60% of the stadium's capacity.
On Wednesday, August 20, the Ministry of Sports announced that they had submitted a formal appeal to CAF to increase the capacity for the quarterfinal scheduled for Friday.
“FKF has already engaged CAF to have the numbers revised; however, we await CAF’s response and will communicate any updates in due course,” Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said in a statement.
CAF had warned that failure to address security breaches could lead to relocation to an alternative venue.
Has CAF permitted increased capacity at Kasarani?
CAF has reportedly allowed more fans to attend the game on Friday evening.
They have increased the capacity to 80%, meaning 38,400 fans will be allowed into Kasarani, up from 27,000, according to journalist Kevin Teya.
The Football Kenya Federation and the Kenyan government set up fan zones across the country to provide an opportunity for fans who couldn't get inside the stadium to enjoy the game.
Have fans bought tickets for Kenya vs Madagascar?
Ticket sales for Kenya vs Madagascar ended on Wednesday at 9pm after Kenyans raised complaints.
Mookh, the ticket provider, released a statement saying its site had crashed due to heavy traffic. When the ticket sales opened on Tuesday, August 9, the site went down.
Source: Getty Images
They were receiving 4,000 requests per minute, which crashed their platform.
"When sales opened at 12pm, our system was overwhelmed by automated bots, preventing genuine fans from securing tickets as intended. Our team is actively working to stop this so that tickets go to fans — not bots," Mookh said in a statement.
It remains to be seen if Kasarani Stadium will be at 80% on Friday evening.
Benni McCarthy's message ahead of Kenya vs Madagascar
In a related story, Benni McCarthy sent a strong message ahead of their mouth-watering encounter against Madagascar.
The South African is confident of his team's ability following a gruelling group stage campaign.
Kenya battled hard against Angola and Morocco with ten men and secured positive results, and went unbeaten.
Proofreading by Jackson Otukho, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
