The Airtel Africa Championships kicked off on Tuesday in Nairobi, Kenya.
The tournament, which brings together Africa’s best talent in the boys and girls under 17 categories, will take place from August 21 to 25, 2012.
The championship is the culmination of regional and national tournaments in 15 countries in the African continent.
The Championship is part of the Airtel Rising Stars programme, a soccer talent initiative that is focused on identifying and nurturing soccer talents from the grassroots onto a national stage.
Touted as the biggest tournament in the continent, the championship attracted approximately 18,000 youth teams and 324,000 youth players in the 15 countries.
In addition to galvanising the biggest turnout during the qualification stage, the programme has also broken new ground by introducing girls to a pan-African tournament.
The Airtel Africa Championship was officially opened by Kenya’s Prime Minister, The Rt.Hon. Raila Odinga, accompanied by the tourney sponsors – Airtel Africa – led by Manoj Kohli the CEO (International) and Joint MD, Bharti Airtel.
The soccer championship will herald the unveiling of two specialised Airtel Rising Soccer Clinics run by soccer coaches from Manchester United and Arsenal Soccer Schools.
Present at the championship launch were officials from both clubs, namely Jonathan Rigby, Marketing Director, Manchester United and Angus Kinnear, Marketing Director, Arsenal Football Club.
The two clinics will be attended by two of the club’s legends, Peter Schmeichel and Ray Parlour.
In the opening fixtures, the hosts, Kenya, whitewashed Malawi in the girls tournament opener 11-0, with Vivian Adhiambo scoring five goals in the rout.
In the boy’s opener, Malawi beat Kenya 5-1 to lead Group B.
The other teams in the group are Madagascar and Ghana.