The 8th edition of CAF U- 17 football competition kicks off on Thursday in Algeria without Nigeria and Ghana, two countries that have dominated the competition since its inception in 1995.

Nigeria failed to qualify having been eliminated by less fancied neighbour Benin on 3-2 aggregate, while Ghana were eliminated by The Gambia.

The maiden edition hosted by Mali was won by Ghana after defeating Nigeria 3-1 in extra time. Ghana came back to win again in 1999 with the same goal margin against Burkina Fasso in Guinea.

Nigeria first lifted the trophy in 2001 with a 3-0 win over Burkina Fasso in Seychelles. Again, Nigeria took it in 2007 against Togo with 1-0 in extra time. Togo was the host.

Other countries that have won the championship are Egypt, Cameroon and The Gambia in 1997, 2003 and 2005 respectively.

Cameroon and The Gambia are two past winners that are in the present competition; another contender of note is Burkina Faso, which finished second in both 1999 and 2001.

Nigeria is leading on CAF's table on classification by points with 58 points followed by Ghana with 55 points. Mali has 26 points, Guinea 23, Burkina Fasso 21, Egypt 20, and Cameroon 19. Eritrea is at the bottom of the table with no points.

The highest number of goals (51) were scored in 2001 when Nigeria first lifted the trophy as against 39 when the championship started in 1999 and 49 at the last edition in Togo.

Other countries in this year's competition include Guinea, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Niger, and host Algeria.

It is painful to note, however, that no Nigerian was named among the referees and assistant referees for this year's championship which is a very bad one for referees in Nigeria. If at the lowest level of CAF competition they are not there, then where would they come in? This will remain a question for the Nigeria Referees Association.