Football Kenya Federation (FKF), in partnership with the Machakos County Government, is set to construct a Technical Centre in Machakos, president Nick Mwendwa has revealed.
The construction of the centre, one of a kind in the country, will be fully funded by FIFA to a tune of 4.5 million USD (Kes 638,100,000).
The construction works is expected to begin in six months time and will be concluded in two years.
The centre will have three FIFA standard pitches, offices, accommodation facilities and training centres with all junior national teams being hosted at the facility.
“We want to produce our Ronaldos and our Peles here in Machakos. This partnership will not only help in talent development in the region and in Kenya as a whole but will also open job opportunities for our people,” said governor Wavinya Ndeti who graced the event.
“It’s a partnership that we are proud to have and we thank FKF for agreeing to bring this project here. We are looking forward to seeing this project become a success,” she added.
FKF President Nick Mwendwa said it was requirement for FIFA’s member associations to have technical centers and the construction of one in Machakos was timely and a fulfilment of one of conditions from Zurich.
“Each FIFA member Association in the world must have a Technical centre. In Kenya we haven’t built one and we have been tasked since last year by FIFA and it was therefore our job to choose where that technical centre will be built,” he said.
Asked on why the federation preferred Machakos, Mwendwa said, the two were strategically placed and the infrastructure around it was sound.
Further, the federation boss revealed that Machakos was willing to avail land where the centre will sit.
“We chose Machakos because it’s not far from the airport, the infrastructure now is fantastic and secondly the willingness of the county to provide land made everything easy,” he added.
