Airtel Kenya has announced it will sponsor this year’s Dala Sevens Rugby event scheduled for Kisumu Polytechnic grounds on August 18 and 19.
Commenting on the sponsorship deal, Airtel Kenya’s managing director Shivan Bhargava said his company would continue empowering youth through sports as this would reflect positively in nurturing talents across the nation.
He further noted that Airtel’s customer service and sales points will be at the venue to offer subscribers same amount of free airtime as the value of their entry ticket to enable them enjoy free calls.
Rugby Chairman of Kisumu region, Dan Ouma, said he is delighted with Airtel’s move and urged other organisations to learn lessons from the company and join the event to attract more teams and provide lucrative offers in the sports arena.
Ouma singled out the first encounter as an exciting one; the battle between Quins and Blackburn as well as Mwamba as the favourite team that boasts of talented and experienced players comprising of Collins Injera, Lavin Asego, Dan Sikuta, Horace Okumu, Michael Agevi, Chris Asego, Dan Sikuta, Edgar Abere and Kevin Wambua.
This is the 9th time since the tournament was established. More than 10,000 rugby participants from Kisumu, Eldoret, Bungoma, Kakamega and Nairobi are expected to attend.
The organisers of the event have confirmed that 32 teams will take part in the event. The winner must have 38 points in respect to the International Rugby Board Rules.
Airtel has been aggressive in sponsoring youth development event. Last year, it unveiled The Airtel Rising Star soccer tournament targeted at girls and boys aged between 14 and17years, and drawn from the company’s network coverage in Africa.
They compete in the sports category and the best are selected to undergo further training by tacticians from the two leading England’s clubs Manchester United and Arsenal.
The 2012 soccer event is dubbed as Airtel-sponsored Pan African Championship is scheduled to kick off on Monday 20 August 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya.
