Musonye says the Sudanese government is keen on football

Sudan has agreed to host two East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) tournaments later this year.

The championships to be held in July and August is to help to solidify their rather shaky peace treaty between the North and the South.

The club championships, originally scheduled for Uganda, will now be held in Khartoum and Port Sudan between 30 June and 12 July.

The region's under-17 contest will be played in Juba a month later.

It will be the first major sporting event to be staged in the southern part of the country since the signing of the treaty in January 2005 which brought an end to their 20-year old civil war.

"The government of Sudan is committed to the promotion and willing to invest heavily in sports throughout the whole country," CECAFA general secretary Nicholas Musonye said.

Meanwhile, the two competitions have received a major financial boost as the Sudanese government has reached a sponsorship deal of US$1m with the organisers.

"They have accepted to finance the staging of the two events to the tune of one million dollars. It is a big boost for the sport," Musonye said.

"We have, in turn increased the prize money from US$60,000 dollars to US$100,000 of which the winners will pocket US$50,000 dollars."

Sudan is enjoying a footballing renaissance with their two top club sides, Al Hilal and Al-Merreikh, reaching the group stages of the Champions League and the national team in the hunt to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

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