Kenya’s AFCON 2027 venues now threaten to adopt a political lead with Kisumu governor Anyang’ Nyong’o and his Kakamega county counterpart Fernandez Barasa blasting the government’s choice of Eldoret to host the 2027 AFCON.

A day after the two leaders issued a statement, this has however elicited mixed reactions with some people arguing the two governors to stop politicising the matter.

Nyong’o and Barasa issued a joint statement indicating that the government’s choice of Eldoret to host the 2027 AFCON finals, was not considerate of the fact that a large fan base of football hails from the Western and Nyanza region terming the Eldoret choice as Unfair.

“Western Kenya should have been included in the country’s plans to host the AFCON.

“The region is where football fans exist in abundance and not Uasin Gishu or Eldoret,” the leaders said in a statement.

Nyong’o and Barasa went ahead to speculate that the Matches would be played in empty stadiums calling on the government through the Ministry of Sports to reconsider the decision and have the matches Played in Kisumu and Kakamega.

“Eldoret has athletic fans in millions, and that’s the truth. This means that the AFCON matches will be played in empty stadiums with little impact,” they asserted.

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Also, the two leaders alleged that the government had excluded the two counties as they are Azimio la Umoja strongholds based on how the region voted in the 2022 general election.

“That would be extremely myopic as the President was representing the Republic of Kenya when he teamed with our colleagues in the East African Community.

“Coming back home, he seems to have changed the goalpost. That’s unfortunate,” the statement added.

This statement has however elicited mixed reactions with some people arguing the two governors to stop politicising the matter.