By Emmanuel Muga BBC Sport Online in Dar es Salaam

There is only a month to go before qualification begins for Tunisia 2004, but no-one in Tanzania believes the Tafia Stars have a remote chance of making it to their first Nations Cup finals in 20 years.

There are no youth soccer programmes where talents can be tapped and coaches with knowledge are replaced with inexperienced ones.

A bad relationship between clubs and the Tanzania Football Association (Fat) has meant that players from some clubs do not get into the national team.

FA chairman Muhidini Ndolanga is the man criticised for the poor state of affairs.

Ndolanga is nicknamed "Mike Tyson" in Tanzania because of the amount of times he has emerged victorious from battles threatening his position.

But for some people, his exit would not be too soon.

According to many observers in the Tanzanian media, Ndolanga selects the national team and reduces the coaches to mere training supervisors.

The team has had three coaches since January.

Key players have often been left out of the national team because of personal falling-out with Ndolanga.

Two years ago, the 61-year-old barred four players from a Nations Cup qualifier against Mauritius.

The Taifa Stars lost 1-0, and Ndolanga had to be smuggled out of the stadium by police.

Challenges

The government in 1996 attempted to bar him from defending his post after a three-year term in office.

His name wes taken off a shortlist of candidates for elections and was accused of incompetence and abuse of his office.

But Fifa reacted with a ban, forcing the government to allow Ndolanga back in the race, which he won.

But relations between the two parties have been been frought with problems since.