The continental finals of the inaugural CAF African Schools Football Championship will take place in Durban, South Africa at the King Zwelithini Stadium from April 5 to April 9, 2023.Fountain Gate Dodoma Secondary School (girls) and Uganda’s Royal Giant High School (boys) will represent the CECAFA region at the finals after emerging triumphant in the zonal qualifiers held in Tanzania in February this year.Former Vihiga Queens coach Alex Alumirah guided Fountain Gate Dodoma Secondary School (Girls) to win the CAF Africa Schools Football Championship CECAFA Zone Qualifiers title, beating Ethiopia’s Awaro SS 3-0 in the final, pocketing $100,000 (Ksh 12,472,550).According to CAF, the inaugural edition has attracted over 44 000 boys and girls under the age of 15 across 41 African countries to not only compete on the field but to be empowered through a number of programs aimed at capacity building.##NAJAVA_MECA_7115334##The Continental Phase of the competition will see some of the greatest talents from the zones’ winning schools compete for the ultimate prize in what is expected to be a weekend of festivities in KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. The Final will be played on Saturday, 08 April 2023.CAF General Secretary, Véron Mosengo-Omba noted that the program is a tangible way for the confederation to show that they are investing in the future of African football.“We are excited to reach this state and to see what started as a vision being implemented and benefiting the young people in Africa. It is history in the making. The CAF African Schools Football Championship is very important to CAF, it is important to Africa, and it is very important to CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe. For the first time, CAF is not just talking about developing the youth, but we are investing in a tangible way to the future of Africa. We are giving hope, we are giving a platform,” he said.Former Vihiga Queens coach Alex Alumirah guided Fountain Gate Dodoma Secondary School (Girls) to win the CAF Africa Schools Football Championship CECAFA Zone Qualifiers title, beating Ethiopia’s Awaro SS 3-0 in the final.They pocket $100,000 (Ksh 12,472,550) pic.twitter.com/uEp5fFGgZU— Murimi Njiru (@muriminjirujnr) February 19, 2023 On the final in Durban, Mosengo-Omba added that Durban was picked after an evaluation of the Member Associations that had expressed interest in hosting the finals.“Following extensive consultation that also included inviting Member Associations to submit applications to host, South Africa’s Durban was given the go-ahead. We have a lot of confident that we will work together with SAFA, with South African Government and KwaZulu Natal to ensure that this is a success,” he added.The CAF African Schools Football Championship was first announced by CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire in April 2021.Ksh 438 million up for grabs in the African Schools Football ChampionshipSince its launch in Mozambique last year, the CAF African Schools Football Championship has already impacted many lives. Thanks to a donation of USD 10 million by the Motsepe Foundation that will go into prizes of Schools at the National, Zonal, and Continental levels, Schools will be able to use the money for Development projects.
