Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe has weighed in on the increasing menace of football stadiums in the continent, saying that they are detrimental to the development of football.There has been an increase in the number of countries without a CAF-approved stadium over the last two years with numbers now indicating that about 22 out of the 54 member associations of CAF do not have an up to standard stadium.BREAKING: Harambee Stars’ CHAN qualifier squad namedThe effect of this was clearly manifested during the previous two international breaks where the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers were taking place as many countries including Kenya had to host their home matches on neutral grounds.Group J for instance had Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Cameroon with only the latter having a CAF-approved stadium as the rest were forced to host their matches in different countries.##NAJAVA_MECA_8435809##The former Mamelodi Sundowns chairman admitted that it is a major problem in the African continent and it impedes the development of football in member associations.“One of the problems we have is that there are too many countries in Africa that have to play their football outside their country. You cannot develop football in your country if you have to host your games outside,” said Motsepe.Harambee Stars drop in FIFA rankings after losses to CameroonHowever, the South African tycoon who was speaking at the 46th CAF Ordinary General Assembly that was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday 22 October said that CAF is making plans to ensure that the situation is changed and that each nation has at least one stadium that meets the minimum requirements.“So there is a huge amount of focus to ensure that every one of the 54 nations and member associations have got at least one stadium that meets CAF/FIFA standards,” he stated.##NAJAVA_MECA_8435794##Kenya is working round the clock to get out of the list of shame and is currently undertaking renovations at Kasarani and Nyayo Stadiums as well as building a new facility, Talanta City.Kasarani and Nyayo are expected to be ready by the end of the year in readiness for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) which is set to be hosted in Kenya while Talanta City is expected to be completed by December 2025 according to the Ministry of Sports.
