CHAN 2024: Details of Ticketing Scandal Rocking Harambee Stars Matches

Three days to go before Harambee Stars face Zambia in their final Group ‘A’ match of the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, controversy over ticketing is threatening to overshadow the much-anticipated fixture.

A report by Daily Nation has revealed that of the 27,000 tickets available for Sunday’s match, only about 13,500 were open for online purchase by Kenyan fans through CAF’s authorised platform, chan.mookh.com.

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The revelation came from Local Organising Committee (LOC) Chairman Nicholas Musonye, Ticketing Coordinator Jecton Obure, and Mookh staff who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“In any game, the agreement between the LOC and CAF was that half the tickets are reserved for purchase by fans, which include fans of Harambee Stars, neutrals, and supporters of Kenya’s opponents. For the Kenya and Morocco game, the stadium capacity was 48,000, so about 24,000 tickets were available for purchase,” Musonye stated as per Nation.

For Kenya’s previous match against Morocco, Obure said 25,000 tickets were scanned at entry points — yet an estimated 75,000 fans forced their way in.

“But the stadium was filled beyond its capacity. However, we estimated that about 75,000 people entered the stadium,” he said.

A Mookh employee corroborated the estimate and warned that the same scenario could unfold on Sunday unless “the government and the police find a way of dealing with over 70,000 fans.”

The Morocco match saw security personnel overwhelmed as ticket holders and non-ticket holders alike overran gates, prompting CAF to suspend ticket sales for the Zambia clash.

CAF subsequently ordered Musonye to restrict the Kasarani crowd to 27,000 — just 60 per cent of its official capacity — to avoid another breach. Tickets went on sale in the early hours of Tuesday and sold out within hours.

“Ticket sales for that match started at 3am, and by 5am the game was sold out,” Obure said.

A Mookh staffer confirmed that by 6am, only 500 tickets remained, which vanished by 7am.

On Tuesday morning, Musonye announced that only e-tickets would be accepted at Kasarani gates.

“Only e-tickets will be scanned at the gates,” he declared at a press conference at Nyayo Stadium.

He explained that physical ticket sales were prohibited from the start, yet some were circulating.

“We were not supposed to provide any physical tickets. CAF only requested advance electronic tickets, and that is what we gave them,” a Mookh source said.

The source alleged that individuals had been buying valid tickets in bulk, printing them after scanning QR codes, and reselling them at inflated prices.

Musonye admitted that some physical tickets might have been complimentary prints distributed at the LOC level.

“What happened is that we bought the complementary tickets and printed them out, but there were a bit too many. Those are the ones some politicians might have been giving out,” he said.

During the Morocco match, touts sold printed tickets for up to Sh2,000 — some with duplicated QR codes that barred latecomers from entry.

Mookh’s policy allows a customer to buy five tickets per transaction, but there is no cap on how many transactions they can make.

“This is something we are trying to implement going forward,” the Mookh source noted.

The company also accused police of turning a blind eye to ticket touting in exchange for bribes.

“We even alerted the police when we saw the people selling tickets at the stadium. But they confront the ticket touts and turn a blind eye after receiving a bribe of Sh200. So what do we do?” the Mookh employee lamented.

European tournaments, like the UEFA Champions League final, routinely publish exact figures for fan allocations.

In contrast, CAF and the CHAN LOC have provided no such transparency, leaving many supporters frustrated at their slim chances of watching Harambee Stars live.