Jan Peeters heads the five-man Fifa inspection team

Tunisia's ability to host the 2010 World Cup will be put under scrutiny after a Fifa inspection team arrived in the capital Tunis for a week-long tour on Thursday.

Jan Peeters, president of the Belgian Football Association, leads the five-man delegation that will tour the country until 18 December.

"They are there to visit the stadiums (and) to see the infrastructure," said Fifa spokesman Nicolas Maingot.

"This is part of the whole procedure leading to the announcement of the host of the 2010 Fifa World Cup."

Medical, transport and telecommunication facilities, as well as the proposed hotels for Fifa centres, will be examined during the visit - in addition to the stadiums the Tunisian Football Federation are putting forward as potential World Cup venues.

At present, it is unclear whether the Fifa inspection team will treat Tunisia as single bidders or as part of a proposed joint bid with Libya.

On Wednesday, both the Tunisian and Libyan federations issued a combined communiqu� indicating 'their firm intention to pursue a joint bid' despite Fifa's known objections to the plan.

'Our joint bid reflects the aim of Fifa and the United Nations of using sport as a tool in bringing nations together, promoting the values of education, health, peace and development,' the dual statement explained.

Tunisia and Libya had both initially announced separate bids but on 5 September, they decided to file a co-hosting proposal to Fifa.

Last week, football's world governing body made its opposition to the co-hosting proposal known after a meeting of Fifa's executive committee in Germany.

The trip to Tunisia is the third undertaken by the Fifa inspection team this year following week-long trips to Morocco in October and South Africa later that month and into early November.

Dates for visits to Egypt and Libya, the other nations bidding to host the tournament, will take place in the new year.

Football's world governing body has awarded Africa the 2010 World Cup finals and will select the African host on 15 May in Zurich.