Doha & Baku Dropped From 2020 Bid

Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid will compete for the hosting rights of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games after Qatar’s Doha and Azerbaijan’s Baku were dropped from the list.

The pair were rejected for a second time in a row after also failing to make the final list for the 2016 Games.

The shortlist was announced at the International Olympic Committee’s executive meeting in Quebec City, with the winning host city named on 7th September 2013 in Buenos Aires.

Headed by IOC president Jacques Rogge, the 15-member executive board chose the finalists after examining a technical evaluation report compiled by a panel of Olympic experts.

Of the final shortlist, Tokyo is the only city to have previously hosted an Olympics – back in 1964. Neither Istanbul in Turkey or Spain’s Madrid have held the event. 

Madrid is bidding for a third consecutive time, Tokyo a second time in a row and Istanbul a fifth time overall.

Rome was originally preparing a bid, before pulling out of the running in February because of the country’s efforts to head off a debt crisis.