Seven Cities In Frame To Host 2016 Olympics

The International Olympic Committee has received applications from seven cities
to host the Summer Olympics in 2016 after the deadline for notification of
interest passed.

The seven cities put forward by their respective National Olympic Committees 
to apply to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016 are: Baku (Azerbaijan),
Chicago (USA), Doha (Qatar), Madrid (Spain), Prague (Czech Republic), Rio de
Janeiro (Brazil) and Tokyo (Japan).

The Applicant Cities will now proceed to Phase 1 of the IOC’s two-step
procedure, which will lead to the election of the 2016 host city in Copenhagen
in October 2009.

Phase 1, known as the Candidature Acceptance Procedure, involves a thorough
review by the IOC of each city’s potential to organise successful Olympic Games
in 2016.

Cities are required to answer a questionnaire, and their answers are studied
by the IOC. At the end of this first phase, the IOC Executive Board selects the
cities that will become Candidate Cities and therefore move on to Phase 2.

During Phase 2, known as the Candidature Procedure, 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 IOC members no later than one month before they cast their vote on 2nd
October 2009.