This week marks the official start of the African Schools Football Championship (ASFC) Zonal Qualifiers as Kenya gets ready to host the CECAFA Zonal Qualifiers of the competition in Nairobi, the nation’s capital, from December 11–13.
More than 800 000 young African boys and girls from over 20 000 schools across 44 countries are competing in the 2023–24 edition of the innovative youth competition by CAF, which is in its second season and off to an exciting start for school-age boys and girls.
After Benin (boys) and the tournament hosts, Togo (girls), emerged victorious in the Zonal Qualifiers earlier this month in Togo and advanced to the continental finals of the next year, the focus now switches to Nairobi, where the Kasarani Stadium will host the competition to decide which team will represent the Zone in April of the following year.
Tanzania, the girls’ section winners from the previous season who also went on to win the Continental Finals, are undoubtedly favorites going into the tournament, while the boys’ division will be fiercely competitive with teams like Uganda and Kenya, the tournament hosts, making for a highly competitive competition.
As part of the tournament’s primary goal of preparing young Africans to lead the continent in the future, CAF, like the WAFU B Zone and the rest of the competition, will be conducting a number of capacity building programs that will run concurrently to the competition.
The official CAF Coaching Course, the Young Reporters Program, and the Young Referees Program are just a few of the upcoming initiatives.
Countries participating in the African Schools Football Championship | CECAFA Zone:
Boys: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Somalia
Girls: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania.
