Vital’O arrives today

SOCCER Kagame CupSaturday (Opener)APR vs Vital’O BURUNDI giants Vital’O are expected in Kigali this afternoon ahead of Saturday’s Kagame Cup opener with APR at Amahoro stadium. The local football governing body (Ferwafa)’s CEO Jules Kalisa confirmed the team’s arrival yesterday saying, “Vital’O arrive tomorrow while most of the other teams are expected in by Friday.” Teams will reside at Alpha Palace, Sports View, Impala, Okapi and La Palisse hotels while referees and match officials who arrived yesterday for a two-day pre-tournament clinic are booked in at Beausejour and Top Tower hotel. Apart from the opening game, all the other Pool matches will be played at Nyamirambo’s regional stadium.The quarterfinals, semifinals and final will then be played at Amahoro stadium. This year, twelve teams are in contention. Pool A has APR, Vital’O, African champions TP Mazembe and Telkom of Djibouti. Pool B pits Rayon Sport with St. George of Ethiopia, Nigeria’s Heartland and Mafunzo of Zanzibar while Pool C, which is arguably the toughest, has reigning champions Atraco, Tanzania giants Simba, Uganda Revenue Authority and Sofapaka of Kenya. After the two-week long contest, the champions will pocket $30,000 while first and second runners up will walk away with $20,000 and $10,000 courtesy of President Paul Kagame. Ends