Online ticketing platform Mookh has released a statement on ticket sales for the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) 2024 quarterfinal match between Kenya and Madagascar.
This comes after thousands of fans expressed their frustrations online following the site’s crash just minutes after ticket sales started.
While acknowledging a service downtime, Mookh stated that automated bots are being used to lock out the purchase of tickets.
“We know how important it is for you to have a fair chance at getting tickets, and we’ve heard your frustration loud and clear.
When sales opened at 12pm, our system was overwhelmed by automated bots, preventing genuine fans from securing tickets as intended. Our team is actively working to stop this so that tickets go to fans – not bots,” said mookh.
“Thank you for your patience and for standing by us. Tickets will be back on sale very soon!”
Currently, fans are receiving a “Temporary Unavailable” notification while trying to purchase the tickets on the site. “We’re temporarily unavailable; we will be back online soon. We appreciate your patience,” the notification adds. Other Kenyans have complained of being blocked by the site while trying to purchase the tickets.
Mookh adjusts time for Kenya Vs Madagascar CHAN 2024 match ticket sales
Earlier, the company had adjusted the ticket purchase time for the quarter-final clash between Kenya and Madagascar set to take place at the Moi International Sports Centre (MISC), Kasarani, on Friday, August 22, 2025.
Ticket sales for the match were initially set to officially open on Tuesday, August 19, at noon.
Also Read: CHAN 2024: How to Purchase Tickets for All Fixtures and Prices
However, the event was rescheduled by one hour to 1 pm, after which the site crashed due to high traffic.
CAF had also increased the prices of tickets ahead of the Harambee Stars match, with only one ticket category available, priced at Ksh250. This contrasts with previous matches where silver and regular tickets were sold at Ksh500 and Ksh200, respectively.
However, the organizers have yet to disclose the number of tickets made available for public sale. During the group stage matches involving Harambee Stars, all games were sold out, with many fans without tickets still managing to gain entry into the stadium in the first three games.
For Kenya’s final group match against Zambia on Sunday, attendance was limited to 60% of the stadium’s 48,000-seat capacity. This meant approximately 27,000 tickets were released to the public, while most Kenyan supporters followed the match from home or from various fan zones set up throughout Nairobi.
CAF fines Kenya
This restriction was imposed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) following repeated security breaches during Kenya’s matches, where numerous spectators entered the venue without tickets.
Also Read: Murkomen Fires Warning After DCP Threatens to Disrupt Harambee Stars’ CHAN Match
As a result, CAF fined the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) a total of Ksh12.8 million for security lapses in five Nairobi-hosted matches.
The governing body also cautioned that failure to comply with these new security protocols could lead to harsher penalties, including relocating Harambee Stars’ home games to alternative venues.
Some fans have expressed frustration with the government’s management of the ticketing portal, pointing out that supporters in Uganda and Tanzania have not faced similar difficulties.
Kenya and Madagascar have met once before — an international friendly on June 7, 2019 — where Kenya triumphed 1–0 courtesy of a 64th-minute penalty by former Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama. Friday’s showdown offers Stars the chance to build on that record — or risk surrendering the edge.
Ranked 115th by FIFA, just six places below Kenya (109), Madagascar’s group-stage journey was far from straightforward: a 1–1 draw against Mauritania despite playing a man down, followed by a 2–1 loss to co-hosts Tanzania.
However, they bounced back, defeating the Central African Republic 2–0 before sealing qualification with a dramatic 2–1 victory over Burkina Faso. That result secured second place in Group ‘B’, behind unbeaten Tanzania.
Benni McCarthy’s Harambee Stars on the other hand topped Group ‘A’ unbeaten after edging Zambia 1–0 in their final group match.
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