4000 Registered for Airtels Nigeria Rising Stars

Following the successful
completion of the nationwide registration
of participants for the season three of the
Airtel Rising Stars (ARS 3) national U-17
Tournament for boys and girls, the zonal
championship of the competition will hold
from July 22 to August 9 across six centres.
Over 4000 registered youngsters from
secondary schools and academies will
feature in the championship slated for
Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Port Harcourt,
Kaduna and the FCT, Abuja.
According to Airtel’s Chief Operating
Officer/Executive Director, Deepak
Srivastava, the registration exercise was
hugely successful as thousands of youth
indicated interest in beginning their
journey to football stardom through the
ARS tournament.

Said Srivastava: “We have concluded
preparations to ensure a hitch-free
tournament that will be full of fun and
excitement. More so, this year, as we shall
host teams from 16 other countries in
Africa for the African Championship as well
as the Soccer Clinic to be facilitated by a
team of coaches from Arsenal Football Club
of England. We have no doubt that the
Nigerian teams will make the country
proud by lifting the all-African Trophy”.

Tournament partners, Youth Sports
Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) and the
Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF) are
to lead an independent team of seasoned
sports personalities including grassroots
coaches to conduct the screening exercises
that will begin from 10 am to 5 pm on
designated days across the six centres.
The Zonal Championship will run on a
three-leg format beginning with
roadshows in the designated host cities,
followed by the screening of registered
players and finally, the play-off matches
which will run in a league format.
The two-week zonal championship play
offs for the North East zone will take place
at Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna while
Abuja zonal championship for the North
Central zone will hold at the Old Parade
Ground, Area 10, FCT.
In the same vein, Enugu zonal matches will
be decided at the University Stadium, UNEC,
Enugu, just as the Training Pitch of the
Liberation Stadium will serve as the venue
for the Port Harcourt zonal championship.

The Legacy Pitch, National Stadium,
Surulere and the Mainbowl of the Liberty
Stadium, Ibadan will host actions for both
the Lagos and Ibadan legs of the zonal
championships.

Successful talents from this exercise will
qualify to feature for their teams in the
knock-out stages from which eight teams
from both the male and female categories
will proceed to the semis to determine the
two finalists and eventual winners.
The winners will automatically qualify as
zonal flag bearers to the national
championship in Lagos.

The Airtel Rising Stars U-17 Tourney, in its
third year running, is a pan African
initiative of Airtel Africa, designed to
provide support for the development of
football talents across African markets.
It is aimed at discovering talented students
(male and female) of secondary school age
and providing them the opportunity to
polish their football skills and develop into
renowned stars.

ARS Season 3 will end in an exclusive
football camp for select top talents who will
emerge from the respective countries
under the tutelage of professional
coaching staff from Arsenal FC and
Manchester United, who will provide
coaching clinics for the scouted talents
under the Airtel Rising Stars platform.
Similar to last year, top teams from 17
African countries will compete against each
other for the title of Airtel Rising Stars
African Champion, scheduled for Nigeria in
September.
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