Nigeria begin their Niger 2019 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a tricky fixture against Burkina Faso in Niamey on Monday.
Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Benin play in Group B, while hosts Niger, Ghana and Togo are in Group A.
A Nigerian Mohamed Ali will be the centre referee in the match between five-time world champions Golden Eaglets and Baby Etalons. Beninoise Eric Ayimavo and another Nigerien Abdoul Yacouba will be the assistant referees.
The reserve referee is Ognankotan Ntale from Togo while former FIFA referee Bonaventure Coffi Codja from Benin is the referee assessor.
The Eaglets face ivory Coast on Thursday before rounding off the group phase against Benin on Sunday.
A new format approved for the competition at the CAF Extra-Ordinary General Assembly in Rabat 13 months ago means countries in each regional bloc gather in one country within the bloc to play a qualifying tournament, as against the old format of home-and-away qualifying series.
Only the winning team from each of the blocs (apart from the bloc of the defending champions that will produce two teams) will qualify for the final tournament, slated for Tanzania next year.
