Yemen has been invited to take part in the Under-20 soccer tournament of the Council of East and Central Football Association (Cecafa) in Asmara, Eritrea from August 14-28. However, Ethiopia, Burundi and Djibouti will not take part in the championship. Though Cecafa did not give out the reason for their withdrawal, it is apparent the lack of diplomatic ties between Eritrea and Ethiopia might have played part. The Cecafa Under-20 tournament will be the first major event on the sporting calendar that Eritrea will be hosting and Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye moved quickly to assure the participants of their security. All the matches will be centred in Asmara. Nine countries will be involved including Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Eritrea and Yemen. This means that Kenya's under-20 team will play Sudan twice in as many weeks in different youth tournaments. The team, which defeated Sudan 2-1 in the first leg of the African Under-20 Championship, last week in Khartoum, will play their return leg this Saturday in Nairobi. The second encounter will be on August 17th in the Cecafa under-20 Challenge Cup. 'We would like to assure all our members that the Cecafa, the Eritrea FA and the government of Eritrea are working very closely to ensure that we deliver a successful competition,' said Musonye. Kenya is in group A together with hosts Eritrea, Tanzania, Somalia and Sudan. Group B has defending champions, Uganda, Rwanda, Yemen and Zanzibar. The government of Eritrea has committed to host the regional football championship to a tune of 1 million US dollars. The prize pack for the winners is cumulating to 18,000 dollars - winners 10, 000 dollars, runners-up 5, 000 dollars with the third place team taking 3, 000 dollars. The government of Eritrea has already renovated the national stadium in Asmara, in readiness for the championship. With limited direct flights to Eritrea from the East Africa region, Musonye said all the nine teams will be airlifted to Asmara in a special chartered plane from Nairobi on August 11. Cecafa has also engaged United Nations (UN) and the government of Eritrea to organize the first women football tournament in Asmara in April next year. 