All signs pointed to Chan postponement, we ignored them

Namboole still has ongoing construction works. PHOTOS/JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
August has been mooted so far, probably to allow clubs finish their local calendars and to avoid competing with the June/July Fifa Club World Cup, but remember local leagues (in this case for the 2025-26 season) start around August. In fact the Caf has August 16 as the locked-in date for the start of the 2025/26 Confederation Cup and Champions League.
Easier to be wiser after an event but for a while, patriotism clouded good judgement over the prospect of hosting the 2024 African Championship (Chan) in the neighbouring countries of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
A jog down memory lane shows in hindsight that this was a tournament that was primed to be postponed and it could yet be cancelled altogether.
First, it should be noted that while Caf says the three countries need time to finish the construction and upgrading of stadiums, training grounds, hotels, and hospitals among others, the continental body only confirmed that the tournament would come to East Africa in September.
At the time, these three countries were fully focused on qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) due in December and planning for works around Afcon 2027.
The various Caf zones only had their qualifiers in December 2024 and in an unprecedented way of doing things, the draws that were held on Wednesday came just two weeks to the start of the tournament.
Compare that to Afcon, where the qualifiers ended in November last year and the draws are expected this month for a tournament that comes later in December 2025. Clearly it is not only the hosts that would have had limited time to prepare but the qualified nations too.
For the 2014 edition in South Africa, teams started their qualification campaign in December 2012 and completed it altogether in August 2013. Caf held the draws a month later and teams played the finals in January 2014. For the January 2016 edition in Rwanda, qualification ended in October 2015 and the draws were held a month later while for the January 2018 tournament in Morocco, qualification ended in August 2017 and draws were held that November.
For the Covid-19 affected 2020 edition that was played in January and February 2021 in Cameroon, the qualification period had ended by the end of October 2019 and the draws had been held almost a year earlier in February 2020.
And the 2022 edition that was pushed to early 2023 in Algeria also had its last qualifiers played by September 4, 2022 and the draws held a month later.
Even though the first edition had qualifiers ending in late November 2008, the teams still had two months to prepare as the draw was held in December 2008 and the final tournament was held in February 2009 in Ivory Coast. In 2011, the teams that went to the February tournament in Sudan had qualified by July 2010 and the draws were done later that year in November.
The ripple effect of the late draws this time is that teams hardly know where to set base. Granted African fans hardly travel but the few that would have travelled, had no information about tickets, what to do about their accommodation, and visas. Also the journalists across the continent are yet to receive their accreditation and this could have left some struggling with visa applications and waivers.
Change of training venues
More to that, there were concerns with Uganda’s choice to change training venues. First, Kyambogo University was tipped to handle this alongside Mandela Stadium Namboole.

Caf president Dr. Patrice Motsepe's tour of Namboole.
But with just about two months ago, information came that Kyambogo, which had started work in May 2024, would not be ready. Fufa’s Kadiiba, Kampala International School (Kisu), and Muteesa II Stadium Wankulukuku had been incorporated as they required some ‘minor’ advancements.
Then a weekend visit to Kadiiba revealed the surface needed more work and the access roads are a bit of a concern. The latter two, it was intimated, could not be used at night as they are privately owned. However, Caf and Uganda were confident they could use all three as soon as teams jetted in.
Little information elsewhere
While this is a joint bid to host Afcon 2027 among all three countries, one feels like each has been left to its own. All three countries seemed to know little about each other’s preps or were at least not discussing them openly.
Kenya kept guarded about their progress until a Ugandan journalist broke through their stadium gates to reveal they were far from ready.
The general belief among Ugandan football fans is that Kenya, which is the bigger economy of the three, failed them as only Nyayo Stadium seemed to have a ready surface.
Remember Kenya and Tanzania were expected to have two stadiums to handle two groups each and Uganda one. Kenya’s failure to present two stadiums would mean Uganda, which was for all this time planning for one, had to find an alternative. Talk of onboarding Rwanda, albeit unofficial, was also mooted.
Gone for good?
In their letter, Caf said the new dates of the tournament due will be announced soon.
August has been mooted so far, probably to allow clubs finish their local calendars and to avoid competing with the June/July Fifa Club World Cup, but remember local leagues (in this case for the 2025-26 season) start around August. In fact the Caf has August 16 as the locked-in date for the start of the 2025/26 Confederation Cup and Champions League.
While at it, remember that Afcon 2025 starts in December. So, a month-long Chan tournament probably congests the last third of the year yet clubs also have to break off to let national teams prepare for Afcon.
It is also hard to see how Caf let a tournament like Chan start off the back of a June/July resting period for the players.
The implication
Sadly, players that were camped with their national teams now have to return to their clubs or even homes given that domestic calendars had been moved around for this.
Financially, most national team engagements in Africa are more rewarding than club engagement so, some players will definitely feel this is a missed opportunity.
More importantly, the powers that be in the three hosting countries might need to be convinced to retain enthusiasm in finishing works connected to the tournaments. In Uganda’s case, this could be the training grounds. Caf will still expect good standards at the end of this all but if Wankulukuku returns to the clubs after completion of works, will it be maintained to standard? Who will ensure Kisu, which is privately owned, keeps up to standard?
We understand that money to complete Kyambogo was released and the required work is expected to be completed in two and a half months.
Chan Hosts
2009 - Ivory Coast
2011 - Sudan
2014 - South Africa
2016 - Rwanda
2018 - Morocco
2020 - Cameroon
2022 - Algeria
2024 - Uganda/Kenya/Tanzania
Proposed Stadiums for 2024
Uganda: Mandela Stadium Namboole
Kenya: Nyayo, Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani (both Nairobi)
Tanzania: Benjamin Mkapa (Dar-es-Salaam), Amaan (Zanzibar)
Key Dates
September 26, 2024 - Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania confirmed Chan hosts
January 14, 2025 - Tournament postponed from February 1-28, 2025 to August