Ten years after the 2000 African Cup of Nations was painfully taken away, Zimbabwe are now bidding to host the 2016 Africa Cup of Nations.

Zifa president Cuthbert Dube said the association had submitted their application for the 2016 tournament having failed in 2000 and 2004 to host Africa's biggest football festival.

The Afcon hosts are awarded the right to host a tournament four years in advance in order for them to upgrade their facilities.

Speaking at a function to unveil the Warriors' 2012 Nations Cup campaign, guest of honour Minister of Education Sports and Culture David Coltart said government would facilitate the hosting of the 2016 Nations Cup.

"As government we are in the process of facilitating for the hosting of the 2016 Nations Cup event.

"We need to build two more stadia bigger enough to carry more than 50 000 people. You think we cannot build two stadia in six years? It's possible, we can do it," Coltart said.

A 13-member Confederation of African Football (Caf) executive will assess the merits and demerits of each candidate before the start of the next edition of the Nations Cup.

But in between now and the Caf Congress to choose the hosts of the tournament, inspection visits will be made to the countries in question to find out whether they have the capacity to host the 16-team football extravaganza.

Caf requires four separate venues from different cities and Dube said Rufaro , Barboufields, Mucheke and the National Sports Stadium have the capacity to host the Nations Cup.

Asked whether African football politics will not once again jeorpadise Zimbabwe's chances of hosting of the biennial football contest. Dube said there were people in Caf who sympathised with Zimbabwe and he was banking on their support.