Season four of Airtel Rising Stars (ARS) national U-17 football tournament for boys and girls organized annually by leading telecommunications operator, Airtel Uganda, came to an end In Fort Portal at Buhinga Stadium.
The finals which drew a large crowd from Toro’s community, were braced by the King of Toro, Oyo Kabamba Rukidi Iguru. This grassroots tournament is an initiative of Airtel Africa and it had been going on for the past two months with various teams from the 8 FUFA soccer regions taking part from their respective regions with an aim of qualifying for the national finals. The 16 teams (8 girls’ teams and 8 boys’ teams) included the best players who were expertly selected by FUFA’s scouts. These players were chosen from different teams to make one team for their regions.
Various notable players showcased great discipline and talent at the national finals as they battled to capture the eye of FUFA’s scouts and also win the money prizes; 5,000,000 million shillings for the winning teams for both boys and girls. The 1st runners up were awarded 3,000,000 million shillings each. Among other awards were medals, Airtel goodies and certificates of participation.
King Oyo’s applauded Airtel for the continued support of the Youth and the investment Airtel has put in Uganda’s football that goes from the top straight down to the grassroots. He promised to support the game and ensure that the youth stand a chance to display their talents.
The Airtel Finance Director, Mr. Dapo Olasope expressed his happiness and gratitude to all the supporters of the Airtel Rising Stars initiative who contributed to its success. “We as Airtel are very delighted by the success we have witnessed in this tournament and we shall continue to support Uganda’s football as a whole. We shall be heading to Gabon and we are hopeful that the players selected by FUFA will do great and take the country to greater heights,” he said.
The selected players, both boys and girls, will now go to the FUFA football clinic in Njeru and train as they prepare to go and represent Uganda in Gabon for the Airtel Rising Stars African tournament.
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