LAUSANNE, Switzerland, September 14. THE International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that seven cities have been put forward by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to apply to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016.
The cities, in alphabetical order, are: Baku (Azerbaijan), Chicago (USA), Doha (Qatar), Madrid (Spain), Prague (Czech Republic), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Tokyo (Japan). NOCs had until Sept. 13 2007 to notify the IOC that a city within their jurisdiction was interested in applying.
Candidature process in two phases:
For these seven cities, today begins the first phase of the IOC's two-step procedure, which will run until Oct. 2 2009, election day of the 2016 host city.
Key dates
Jan. 14 2008: Applicant Cities to reply to IOC questionnaire
Beginning of June 2008: Acceptance of Candidate Cities by the IOC Executive Board in Lausanne
Beginning of June 2008: Candidature Procedure and Questionnaire made available to Candidate Cities
August 2008: Candidate Cities participate in the IOC Observer Programme during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
Feb. 12 2009: Candidature file to be submitted to the IOC
May – June 2009: IOC Evaluation Commission visits Candidate Cities
Sept. 2 2009: Publication of the Evaluation Commission report
Oct. 2 2009: Election of the 2016 Host City in Copenhagen, Denmark
Special thanks to the IOC for contributing this report.