Abedi To Play in Charity Match for Street Children

Several top French-based players have agreed to take part in a charity match in Kinshasa later this month to raise money for Unicef.

Many current French league stars will join up with legends like Roger Milla and Abedi Ayew Pele to take on the Democratic Republic of Congo at the Martyrs stadium in Kinshasa on 29 May.

Organisers are hoping a capacity crowd of 80,000 will attend the match to raise money for the 'sheges', the 15,000 homeless children who roam the streets of the Congolese capital.

A nominal fee, equivalent to one American dollar, is to be charged for admission to the game.

A further US$300 will be charged each member of the city's glitterati when they attend a gala dinner on the night of the game, with the money again going to the Unicef charity.

Some of the players who have agreed to take part in the match include Congolese international Shabani Nonda, Ibrahima Bakayoko of Cote d'Ivoire and Peggy Luyindula, the Kinshasa-born striker who plays at Strasbourg and for the French under-21 team.

Also confirmed are former French internationals Bernard Lama, Alain Giresse, Jean-Pierre Papin and Daniel Bravo, along with the Cameroonian Marcel Mahouve, now at Montpellier.

Organisers are also hoping to tie up Frederic Kanoute, the Frenchman who has been a revelation at English Premier League club West Ham this season. The match will be good preparation for the Simbas vital African Nations Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in June. The gala game will come just four days before the Congolese travel to Maseru.