Emmanuel Muga BBC Sport in Dar es Salaam

Tanzania Sports Minister Juma Kapuya

In January this year the government announced a tender for construction of a 60,000-seater stadium to replace the current National stadium.

Sports Minister Professor Juma Kapuya said the government has received 11 bids from construction companies to build the ultra-modern stadium.

Kapuya told BBC Sport that the foundation stone will be laid in May this year to mark the take-off of the project.

"The project will be completed within 22 months," Kaputa said.

Tanzanian President Benajamin Mkapa has promised Tanzanians that he would leave behind a modern stadium when he leaves office.

His constitutional 2-term mandate as a head of state expires in 2005.

The minister said the government's provisional budget for the project is US $60 million but the amount may change depending on the bidder's proposal.

The existing National Stadium used for international matches was banned by African football's governing body CAF in 2001 for security reasons.

Security for players and officials depends on the vigilance of the police.

Tanzania's national stadium is in a sad state

The minister said the stadium construction is a part of a broader programme of developing soccer in Tanzania.

"We are now determined to support the game.

"To start with, money generated from the national lottery will go to developing sports," he said.

"We plan to hire a foreign technical director, who will develop youth football.

"We will first have to contact friends who could help in finding one," he added.

"We have abundant talents that need to be tapped."

Tanzania is ranked 155 in the world and has not qualified for the Nations Cup finals since 1980.