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SportsTHE DUGOUT · Where Would We Put Them?

Bayern and Ajax will open Kenya's new stadium. Betting tax is paying for it

Kenya's 60,000-seat Raila Odinga International Stadium opens on 5 January 2027. Ghana has one stadium approved for international football.

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stadium in Ghana meets international standards, Accra Sports Stadium

9 sourcesWatchThe QMS take
By QMS Newsroom29 Oct 2026, 16:05 GMT1 min read
Photo: Bloomberg

Bayern Munich and Ajax will play a friendly on 5 January 2027 to open Kenya's new 60,000-seat Raila Odinga International Stadium in Nairobi, President William Ruto announced on Wednesday. Both clubs have confirmed.

The stadium

Ruto broke ground on 1 March 2024. The stadium is being built by China Road and Bridge Corporation, the company behind Kenya's SGR railway, with Kenya Defence Forces engineers supervising. Parliamentary updates put it at about 94 percent complete. It is part of Kenya's preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which Kenya will co-host with Uganda and Tanzania from 19 June to 17 July 2027.

The stadium was named after former prime minister Raila Odinga, who died in October 2025. Ruto linked the choice of German and Dutch clubs to Odinga's studies in Germany in the 1960s.

Who is paying

The contract is worth KSh 45.85 billion, against KSh 35 billion approved by Treasury. Kenya's Auditor-General flagged the gap and the direct procurement; the government says the difference is taxes. The project is financed by a KSh 44.79 billion bond repaid from Kenya's sports fund, which is fed by betting taxes.

Ghana

In September 2024, under President Akufo-Addo's government, CAF withdrew approval for Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi. Accra Sports Stadium was approved in October 2024 and remains the country's only venue meeting international standards. It is where Mohammed Kudus scored against Comoros on 12 October 2025 to send Ghana to the World Cup.

President Mahama's government has promised seven new stadia (September 2025), three "this year" (March 2026) and ten in the budget (August 2026). No contractor or timetable has been published.

The QMS take · Opinion

I'm not saying copy Kenya: paying with betting money and skipping the tender is not the model. But Kenya picked a date and worked backwards. Ghana has no date, and a promise with no date is just a number.

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Sources · 9
  • The Star and Citizen: Ruto's announcement, 28 Oct 2026
  • Pulse, ESPN and Flashscore: Bayern and Ajax confirm
  • Construction Briefing and NTV: China Road and Bridge Corporation, KDF supervision
  • Nation and Pulse Sports: KSh 45.85bn contract vs KSh 35bn approved
  • Capital FM, Business Daily and Pulse: the KSh 44.79bn bond and the betting-fed sports fund
  • The Star and Citizen: Raila Odinga name, 12 Dec 2025
  • GFA and GNA: CAF withdraws Baba Yara approval, Sept 2024
  • Adom and Sky Sports: Ghana 1–0 Comoros, 12 Oct 2025
  • Adom, GhanaSoccernet and ModernGhana: Ghana's stadium pledges

Every factual line in this story is checked against at least two independent sources, unless the text says it comes from one report.