Kickoff (Cape Town)
28 December 2008
Fifa president Sepp Blatter will be among the many continental and international football figures who will be visiting Rwanda during the African Youth Championship in Kigali next month.
The tournament is scheduled to take place from January 18 to February 1, 2009.
According to the Rwandan Federation's chief executive officer Jules Kalisa, Blatter (72), wrote to the federation informing them that he will be coming to grace the two week tournament.
Hosts Rwanda Mali, Cameroon and Ghana are drawn in Group A while South Africa's Amajita is drawn in group B against favorite winners, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Fifa Under-20 World Cup hosts Egypt.
Rwanda opens the competition against Mali at Amahoro Stadium on January 18, 2009 before another cracker sees Ghana taking on arch rivals Cameroon.
The Caf U-20 African Championship is held every two years with the top four teams qualifying for the Fifa World Youth Championship and the winner automatically qualify to the finals of the 2009 Youth World Cup due in Cairo, Egypt.
With the Safa offices closed for the Christmas break, until January 12, there has been no official media release regarding Amajita's preparations or squad list, except for earlier reports that coach Serame Letsoaka's squad is scheduled to assemble on January 8 and hold a high-altitude camp in Kenya a week before the competition kicks off.
Media reports this weekend have it that Letsoaka is currently contacting PSL clubs himself to find out what players are available to him as he is, as KickOff.com reported last week, still in the dark about who he will have to represent South Africa at the tournament.
Another of Letsoaka's problems is that the tournament is to be played on artificial pitches, part of Fifa's $70-million legacy of projects to improve African soccer while the continent prepares to host the 2010 World Cup finals.
The installation of artificial pitches, introduction of professional leagues and administration and training of coaches and doctors form part of the 'Win with Africa in Africa' initiative launched last year.
Fifa has undertaken to install artificial pitches in all but one of Africa's 53 member countries, the only exception being South Africa.
A total of 21 have already been completed, most of them in national stadiums.
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