'Indonesia has four or five stadiums that could be easily upgraded. And 10 years should be enough for us to build the rest of the stadiums,' Taher said.

The site of the 2007 Asian Cup final, the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, has a capacity of 80,000.

'We'll approach the government for assistance after FIFA returns our intention letter. It would cost trillions of rupiah to build new stadiums and hotels,' Taher said.

Indonesia faces stiff competition from rivals including Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands, China, England, Japan, Mexico, Portugal and Spain, Qatar and Russia.

African countries are precluded from bidding for the 2018 tournament as the next World Cup, in 2010, will be staged in South Africa.

Latin American countries are ruled out of competition for both 2018 and 2022 as Brazil is to host the 2014 version.

The region which provides the host in 2018 will be excluded from consideration for 2022.

Countries which notify FIFA of their intent to bid have until December 2009 to submit detailed applications.

Indonesia's football team currently ranks 144th in the world. -AFP