IOC Confirms Six Applicants to Host 2020 Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that six cities have been put forward by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to apply to host the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020: Baku (Azerbaijan), medical Doha (Qatar), Istanbul (Turkey), Madrid (Spain), Rome (Italy) and Tokyo (Japan).

There were no surprises, as all six cities had previously announced their candidacies.

All six contenders have made previous bids, and two — Rome and Tokyo— have hosted the Olympics before.

The Cities will now proceed to Phase 1 of the IOC’s two-step procedure, which will lead to the election of the 2020 host city in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 7 September 2013.

• Phase 1, known as the Candidature Acceptance Procedure, focuses on a technical review and the cities’ ability to host the Olympic Games in 2020. Cities are required to answer a questionnaire, and their answers are studied by the IOC. At the end of this first phase, the IOC EB selects the cities that will become Candidate Cities and therefore move on to Phase 2.

• Phase 2, known as the Candidature Procedure, concentrates on Games operational matters. Candidate Cities will be requested to submit their Candidature File – which is an in-depth description of their Olympic project – and will be subject to a technical assessment made by a visiting team – the IOC Evaluation Commission. The IOC Evaluation Commission’s appraisal will be published in a report and sent to the IOC members no later than one month before they cast their votes on 7 September 2013 and in time for the 2020 briefing for IOC Members. The report will also be available to the public on www.olympic.org.

The IOC panel will issue a report assessing the technical merits of the bids at least one month before the vote. The cities will also make technical presentations to the IOC ahead of the meeting in Buenos Aires.

The IOC executive board last week agreed to the Qatari city’s request for a Sept. 20-Oct. 20 time frame to avoid the summer heat, when temperatures can exceed 104 degrees. The United States, South Africa and Dubai also considered bidding for 2020, but decided not to enter the race.

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Related Discussion: Now we know the bidding cities for the 2020 Summer Olympics, who is the early favourite? by Rory Squires