AZERATC state news agency,
15, September 2007

Seven cities from four continents are officially in the race to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee said Friday it had received formal applications from Baku, Azerbaijan; Chicago, the USA; Doha, Qatar; Madrid, Spain; Prague, Czech Republic; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Tokyo, Japan.

Thursday was the deadline for submission of applications by national Olympic committees. The host city will be selected by the IOC on Oct. 2, 2009, at its session in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Before then, the candidates will go through a two-stage bid procedure. The cities must reply to a detailed IOC questionnaire by Jan. 14, 2008. The IOC executive board will select a short list of finalist cities in June 2008. Full bid files must then be submitted to the IOC by Feb. 12, 2009. An IOC evaluation commission will visit the cities in May and June of 2009 and publish a report assessing the bids one month before the vote. Chicago are deemed front-runners at the moment because with the 2012 Games in Europe, the IOC are unlikely to return to the continent for the following summer Games, which puts an obstacle in the way of Madrid and Prague. Similarly, with Beijing hosting the Games next year IOC members may feel less urgency to give the 2016 event to another Asian city Tokyo, while there are question marks over whether Doha in Qatar is big enough to host the Games.

That leaves Baku, Chicago and Rio as the main candidates but the American city has a number of advantages: mainly that it would be 20 years since the summer Games was last in north America.