Confederation of African Football (CAF) has given Kenya the green light to stage the CHAN 2018 finals tournament although the continental football governing body admits that the East African country is behind schedule in terms of preparations.

CAF president Ahmad Ahmad told Super Sport on his first visit to South Africa this week that they had sent a powerful inspection team to Kenya.

He said: "They say the way we don’t want politics to interfere with football, we don’t want football to interfere with politics. Our delegation is talking to the government as there will be presidential elections in August. They asked us to give them until the end of August when they will give us their action plan.”

Kasarani, Kinoru, Nyayo and Kipchoge Keino stadiums have been selected to host the matches. The CHAN tournament, which is reserved for players who feature in their respective domestic leagues across Africa, will be staged from January 11 to February 2, 2018.

Ahmad added: "After that, we will sit down to take a decision whether we will have it in Kenya or not. The tournament will take place on the indicated dates in proper conditions, with infrastructure that Africa will be proud of. That I can assure you.”

During his visit to South Africa, Ahmad touched on several issues including CHAN tournaments, revealing that there are no immediate plans to scrap the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) despite its lack of appeal among some coaches and players.

The tournament primarily aims to serve as a development vehicle for home-based players on the continent and has proved to be a headache for most coaches since it does not feature on the FIFA calendar.

The CAF president also touched on the issue of moving the headquarters of CAF to South Africa from Egypt, and said that this was not part of his agenda during the campaign.

Meanwhile, over four hundred international football experts will gather in Morocco this month to discuss the future of African football.

The two-day event dedicated to Africa football will be held on July 18-19 and will be followed by CAF General Assembly.

Heads of all the 56 CAF member associations including FERWAFA’s Vincent Nzamwita are expected to attend alongside Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane and FIFA President, Gianni Infantino.

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