The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday said that seven cities had put forward their names as potential hosts of the 2016 Olympic Games, according to DPA. In a statement issued on Friday the IOC said that Baku (Azerbaijan), Chicago (USA), Doha (Qatar), Madrid (Spain), Prague (Czech Republic), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Tokyo (Japan) had applied to host the Olympics. "The 7 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 2 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." They said that during the second phase the candidate cities will have to submit their bid documents, outlining their Olympic project. They will then be visited by an evaluation committee. "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 2 October 2009. The report will also be available for public consumption," the IOC said.
