Airtel unveils new African youth soccer tourney

Mobile telecommunications company, Airtel, has unveiled a new Pan African soccer tourney known as the Airtel Rising Stars Africa Soccer Championship. This is to provide a platform for young footballers on the continent to unearth their raw talent.

The Championship which will be part of the Airtel Rising Stars programme, will take place August 20-25, 2012 in Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi.

In a statement, Airtel says the tournament will comprise of a preliminary qualifying round, a knockout round and a final adding that a draw will be conducted in Nairobi August 15 to determine the group stage fixtures.

The format of the under 17 tourney will give both boys’ and girls’ teams the chance to assess their team work and individual skills against some of the best nations in Africa, it noted.

The football extravaganza will attract teams from some of Africa powerhouses in the under 17 age group such as Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, DRC pitted against upcoming nations such as Gabon, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Burkina Faso amongst others.

Airtel has also confirmed that as part of its partnership with DSTV’s sports channel, Super Sports, the Boys and Girls final matches will be broadcasted live on August 25 starting at 0800hrs to 1200hrs CAT.

The Final matches, Airtel indicated, will be followed by a pan African Music extravaganza involving four top artists from the continent. Amongst the artist lined up for the concert are Congolese crooner Papa Wemba, Nigerian Artist Tuface, Tanzanian Rapper AY and Kenyan Gospel artist Daddy Owen.

By Ekow Quandzie