Nairobi City Stadium is a
multi-purpose stadium in
Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ...
, Kenya. It is located east of the city centre. The stadium is owned by the
Nairobi City Council The City Council of Nairobi was the local authority governing the city of Nairobi, Kenya. It was the largest of the 175 local Authorities in the country and was under direction of the Ministry of Local Government.
The chief executive of the city co ...
.
Overview
The stadium was originally known as ''African Stadium'', then renamed to ''Donholm Road Stadium''. It was renamed to ''Jogoo Road Stadium'' after Kenya gained independence in 1963 and finally to ''Nairobi City Stadium''.
[Daily Nation, 21 November 2007]
Fifa rolls out multimillion stadium project
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It was the principal stadium in Nairobi until the 1980s when Nyayo National Stadium
Nyayo National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nairobi, Kenya. It is located at the square of Mombasa Road, Langata Road and the Aerodrome Road. It is approximately two kilometers from the City Center, directly opposite Nairobi Mega Mall, ...
and Moi International Sports Centre were built. It is used mostly for football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
matches and is the home stadium of the traditional Gor Mahia
Gor Mahia Football Club (), commonly also known as ''K'Ogalo'' (), is a football club based in Nairobi, Kenya. They have won the Kenyan Premier League a record 19 times, and have also won the FKF President's Cup a record 11 times. They are the on ...
and some other local clubs. The stadium has a capacity of 15,000 people.
Probably the highest profile athletics competition held at Nairobi City Stadium was Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti- colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigenous ...
memorial meeting in 1979. International athletes like Edwin Moses, Alberto Salazar and Henry Rono participated.[Daily Nation, 29 April 2007: Okeyo elected to top athletics post in Senegal
]
According to press reports, City stadium is set to have the first artificial turf
Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commerc ...
in Kenya. The project will be funded by FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
.
ACT Global Sports
References
Sports venues in Kenya
Football venues in Kenya
Sport in Nairobi
Multi-purpose stadiums in Kenya
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