Football: 2017 Afcon under 20 championship |16 February 2017

Adelaide to officiate at under-20 finals

Local assistant referee Eldrick Adelaide has been chosen among 26 officials to officiate at the upcoming under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which will be held in Zambia from February 26 to March 12.

Adelaide, 29, is among 13 other assistant referees who will be in control of matches at the tournament, where they will assist another 12 referees.

The 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations is the 20th Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, the biennial international youth football tournament organised by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) for players aged 20 and below.

The top four teams will qualify for the 2017 Fifa U-20 World Cup in South Korea.

The teams who have qualified for the tournament include Cameroon, Egypt, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan and hosts Zambia.

From 1979 until 1989, the African representatives were determined purely on a home and away qualifying basis without a final tournament, with the African champions determined through the same qualification. Since 1991 there has been a qualifying stage followed by a final tournament played by 8 teams in a chosen country.

On August 6, 2015, the Caf Executive Committee decided to change the name of the tournament from the African Youth Championship to the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, similar to the senior's version, Africa Cup of Nations.

Nigeria are the top winners of the tournament, winning the competition a record seven times (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2005, 2011 and 2015), although they will not be able to defend their title this year, having not qualified.

It should be noted that Seychelles have never participated in the tournament.

S.N