The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is pleased to announce 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. The cities, in alphabetical order, are: Baku (Azerbaijan), Doha (Qatar), Istanbul (Turkey), Madrid (Spain), Rome (Italy) and Tokyo (Japan).
NOCs had until 1 September 2011 to notify the IOC that a city within their jurisdiction was interested in applying. In addition, all of the above NOCs/cities complied with the newly introduced prerequisite criteria established by the IOC Executive Board (EB) in October 2010.
The six Applicant 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.
Information on the Candidature Acceptance Procedure, including the questionnaire to which Applicant Cities must respond by 15 February 2012 and the rules applicable to this process, can be found on www.olympic.org.
KEY DATES:
|
Event |
Deadline |
|
PHASE 1
|
|
| Submission letters regarding WADA compliance and CAS Submission of proposed dates if outside normal Olympic Games period (15 July – 31 August) | By 29 July 2011 |
| IOC to send confirmation regarding WADA compliance, CAS and the proposed dates | By 29 August 2011 |
| NOCs to inform the IOC of the name of an Applicant City | 1 September 2011 |
| IOC information seminar for 2020 Applicant Cities, Lausanne | 3-4 November 2011 |
| Submission of the Application File and guarantee letters to the IOC | 15 February 2012 |
| IOC Executive Board to accept Candidate Cities | May 2012 |
| PHASE 2 | |
| Olympic Games Observers’ Programme – London 2012 | 27 July – 12 August 2012 |
| London 2012 debrief in Rio de Janeiro | November 2012 |
| Submission of Candidature File to the IOC | 7 January 2013 |
| Visits by the IOC Evaluation Commission to the Candidate Cities | February- April 2013 |
| Report by the 2020 IOC Evaluation Commission | tbc |
| Candidate City Briefing to IOC Members | tbc |
| Election of the Host City of the 2020 Olympic Games | 7 September 2013125th IOC Session, Buenos Aires |
The application of Doha will be assessed on dates within the range proposed by the Qatar Olympic Committee – 20 September to 20 October – and accepted, in principle, by the IOC EB at its meeting in Daegu last week.
While accepting the proposal in principle, the EB specifically asked the Qatar NOC for full assurances on the following points:
1. In order to protect the health of the athletes, the IOC will publish a list of events which must be organised at the most appropriate time determined by the IOC (early morning/late afternoon).
2. This scheduling should not be detrimental to the organisation, the broadcast coverage or the spectator experience.
3. Measures should be taken to protect the health of the public and all technical and support staff.
These assurances, along with the other elements of the Qatari application, will be evaluated by the EB in May 2012, as part of the applicant phase of the 2020 bidding process.
* The cities will be listed in alphabetical order until such time as the official drawing of lots is carried out by the IOC EB in December 2011. The order of drawing of lots will then be used until the election of the 2020 host city.
