The CAF African Schools Football Championship for the UNAF zone kicked off in Egypt on Friday amid excitement among the kids participating in the maiden edition of competition in North Africa.
Dignitaries from several countries including Minister of Sports of Egypt Ashraf Sobhy and Minister of Education of Egypt Dr. Reda Hegazy attended the opening ceremony in Cairo. CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe was represented by CAF General Secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba.
Others in attendance at the opening ceremony were the Libyan President of UNAF Abdelhakim Al-Shalmani, President of the Egypt FA (EFA) Gallam Allam, EFA partners, among other notable personalities.
Pupils of schools from Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco were ecstatic as Mosengo-Omba and the other dignitaries launched the regional tournament played at the 30 June Sports Complex.
The North African boys and girls are the first to embark on the regional battles for the title and places in the continental competition, with the other regional bodies due to play their qualifiers soon.
The UNAF qualifiers of the much-anticipated tournament will see about 200 boys and girls from the region competing for the titles.
The boys’ teams include Ecole Sewada (Egypt), Ecole Alkaleel Tripoli (Libya), Ecole Belawech Boumerde (Algeria), Ecole Hedi Ayadi Sfax (Tunisia) and Ecole Mohamed Elmaghraoui (Morocco).
In the girls’ category, the participating teams are Ecole Medja (Egypt), Ecole Alkarama Girls (Libya), Ecole Ibn Battouta Ain Defla (Algeria), Ecole Aroui Sousse (Tunisia) and Ecole Omar Ibn Khatab Rabat (Morocco).
In the opening match of the girls’ category, Ecole Mejda of Egypt hammered Ecole Al Karama of Libya 5-0 while Ecole Sewada of Egypt defeated Ecole AlKaleel Tripoli of Libya 2-0 in the boys’ category.
The first African Schools Football championship will see over boys and girls from 20 000 schools from 41 countries participating in the regional tournaments in the UNAF, COSAFA, CECAFA, WAFU B, WAFU A and UNIFFAC zones before the regional winners clash for the continental title.
The Executive Committee on Saturday 1 October 2022 in Algiers, Algeria announced the following prize money for the African Schools Football Championship:
For the African Schools Football Championship Winners at the Continental level:
●USD 300 000 for the Winner
●USD 200 000 for the Runner-up
●USD 150 000 for the 3rdPosition
Winners at the 6 Zonal Unions level:
●USD 100 000 for each of the 6 Zonal Union Winners
●USD 75 000 for each of the 6 Zonal Union Runners-ups
●USD 50 000 for each of the 6 Zonal Union 3rd position Winners
In April 2022, CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe launched the CAF African Schools Football Program in Maputo, Mozambique.
Source: Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF)