No fewer than 4,000 players are taking part in the elimination for the Airtel Rising Stars Season 3, for the U-17 Boys and Girls camping and competition.
Deepak Srivastava, the Chief Operating Officer/Executive Director of Airtel, who disclosed this on Saturday, said that the event would hold at six centres across the country.
The centres are Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kaduna and the FCT, Abuja.
According to him, the huge number was arrived at after a successful national registration that attracted thousands of talents.
He said that the camping, tournament and the selection processes would ultimately qualify some of the youngsters for stardom, through the Airtel Rising Stars tournament.
“We have concluded preparations to ensure a hitch-free tournament that will be full of fun and excitement,” he said.
Srivastava said that Nigeria would later host 16 other countries in Africa for the African Championship.
The country would also host a soccer clinic to be facilitated by a team of coaches from Arsenal Football Club of England.
“We have no doubts that the Nigerian teams will make the country proud by lifting the All-Africa Trophy,” said Srivastava.
The Airtel Nigeria is partnering with the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria and the Nigeria School Sports Federation on the project.
The bodies will be expected to lead independent teams of sports persons, including grassroots coaches to conduct the screening on designated days across the six centres.
The teams will then compete at zonal levels before the national play-offs.
The two-week zonal play offs for the North East will hold at Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna and Abuja zonal championship for the North Central will hold at the Old Parade Ground, Area 10, FCT.
The Enugu zonal matches will hold at the University Stadium, UNEC, Enugu and the Training Pitch of the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt will serve as the venue for the Port Harcourt zonal championship.
The Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, and the main bowl of the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan will host both the Lagos and Ibadan legs of the zonal championships.
The winners will automatically qualify as zonal flag bearers to the National championship in Lagos.
The ARS Season 3 would then end with an exclusive football camp for select top talents who would emerge from the respective countries under the training of professional coaching staff from Arsenal FC and Manchester United.
“These professionals will provide coaching clinics for the scouted talents under the Airtel Rising Stars platform,” he said.
The top teams from the 17 African countries will compete against each other for the title of Airtel Rising Stars African Champion, scheduled for September in the country.
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