Nyayo National 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 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, formerly known as

Nakumatt Nakumatt was a Kenyan supermarket chain. "Nakumatt" is an abbreviation for Nakuru Mattress. Overview , Nakumatt had 65 stores in the African Great Lakes countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. It employed over 5,500, and had gross an ...

Mega. The stadium was built in 1983 for a capacity of 15,000. It is currently 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. The popular AFC Leopards football club plays most of its home games at Nyayo stadium. The stadium is also used for

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and various ceremonies most common of which are National Holiday celebrations. Other facilities at the Nyayo Stadium include a gymnasium and a 50-metre swimming pool. Rugby union club

Mwamba RFC Mwamba Rugby Football Club, (Known as Stanbic Mwamba RFC for sponsorship purposes), is a Kenyan rugby union club based in Nairobi. The club was founded in 1977 with the aim of promoting rugby union among indigenous Kenyans at a time when the sp ...

used the Nyayo National Stadium for home games. The completion of the Nyayo Stadium gave Kenya the opportunity to be placed in the category of nations that were invited to bid for the 4th All-Africa Games in 1987, a bid that was awarded to Kenya, giving it International status. In essence, the Nyayo Stadium "gave birth" to Moi International Sports Centre. The Nyayo Stadium was the host venue of the

2010 African Championships in Athletics The 2010 African Championships in Athletics was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 28 July to 1 August 2010. Background The African Championships in Athletics were held in Kenya for the first time. Previously two major athletics events have been held i ...

. The stadium was renamed to the

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National Stadium after the multi-national company won the naming rights to the stadium in February 2009. The deal was worth US$1.5 million and would have seen the beverage company do branding, marketing and naming to the whole stadium for three years. Three months later, however, Coca-Cola withdrew from the contract, because the Kenyan government wanted to have the stadium branded as Coca-Cola Nyayo National Stadium. but was renamed again to the Nyayo National Stadium, as the

Government of Kenya , image = , caption = Coat of arms of Kenya , date = 1963 , jurisdiction = Republic of Kenya , url = http://www.mygov.go.ke/ , legislature = Parliament of Kenya , meeting_place ...

wanted it branded. This decision has been widely criticised by many Kenyan citizens, because they believe that Coca-Cola would have heavily improved and popularised the stadium. The stadium houses headquarters for the

Football Kenya Federation The Football Kenya Federation (abbreviated as Football Kenya or FKF) is the governing body of football in Kenya. The FKF organizes the Kenyan Premier League, the Kenyan Women's Premier League, FKF Division One, FKF Women Division One and Ken ...

and

Athletics Kenya Athletics Kenya (AK) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (track and field) in Kenya. It is a member of World Athletics and Confederation of African Athletics. AK organises athletics competitions held in Kenya. It also sends Kenyan tea ...

Components

Main stadium

The main stadium, holding 15,000 people and a FIFA-approved standard-size football pitch, also contains floodlights, 2 VIP lounges, a

boardroom A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

and an internet-enabled media centre. The stadium can also be and has also been used to host concerts, public holiday celebrations, public rallies, meetings and

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

Aquatic Centre

The aquatic centre holds 2,000 people and contains a

filtration plant Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for h ...

and a public 50 x 25 m swimming pool.

Indoor Gymnasium

The indoor gymnasium holds 2,500 people and is the home of the Kenya National Basketball League and the

Kenya national basketball team Kenya national basketball team is the national men basketball team in Kenya. It is operated by the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF). Kenya hosted the 1993 FIBA Africa Championship where the team beat Algeria men's national basketball team, A ...

. It also features floodlights, electronic

scoreboards A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used ...

snack bar A snack bar usually refers to an inexpensive food counter that is part of a permanent structure where snack foods and light meals are sold. Description A beach snack bar is often a small building situated high on the sand. Besides soft drink ...

s, a

boxing ring A boxing ring, often referred to simply as a ring or the squared circle, is the space in which a boxing match occurs. A modern ring consists of a square raised platform with a post at each corner. Four ropes are attached to the posts and pulled ...

, an indoor

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

court, a martial arts gym and other social facilities.

Handball and volleyball training courts

The handball and volleyball courts can accommodate up to 1,500 spectators and feature outdoor training courts.

References

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...