Rwanda’s Lionceaux Academy begin their hunt for Airtel Rising Stars African Championship title against Malawi as the continental football tournament gets underway in Lagos, Nigeria, on Tuesday.The Rubavu-based football academy, which won the local African Rising Stars competition two months ago, are drawn in Group A alongside hosts Nigeria, DR Congo and Malawi.The games will be played at Agege Township Stadium, Onikan Stadium and Yaba College of Technology. The week-long tournament will climax on Sunday.Today, Lionceaux start their campaign against Joyce Banda Foundation of Malawi in the opening match in Group A at 12:30p.m Rwandan time.On Wednesday, the Rwandans will take on hosts Nigeria before winding up their group games against neighbours DR Congo on Thursday.The Airtel Rising Stars U-17 soccer tournament is a pan-African initiative of Airtel Africa designed to create a pool of talents that would help feed the national teams.The winning male and female teams will receive the grand prize of US$10,000.Rwanda is represented in the boys category only.Last year, Ghana won the girls title while the boys crown went to Niger. The best players from the championship will get the opportunity to attend football clinics provided by two of the world’s biggest football clubs; Arsenal and Manchester United. The clinics, which will take place in Lagos (Nigeria) and Lubumbashi (DR Congo) in April 2014, will be managed by UEFA-trained coaches from the two English Premier League giants.
