Baku and Doha fail in 2020 Olympics bids
The cities of Baku and Doha have been eliminated from the race to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games after the International Olympic Committee gave Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo 'Candidate City' status in an announcement at the SportAccord Convention on Wednesday.
At a packed conference hall in Quebec, Canada, the Qatari capital of Doha and Baku in Azerbaijan discovered that they had been rejected for the second Summer Games tender in a row. Baku was always considered to be the outsider despite boasting significant spending power thanks to its gas reserves while International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Director Gilbert Felli insisted the proposed October date for a Doha Games was "not the only reason" it failed to make the shortlist.
However, in its report, the IOC stated "in July/August, people have more leisure/vacation time. There is therefore a risk that an October Games would become a 'weekend Olympics Games' and with a reduced demographic reach, broadcasters would have difficulties in attracting the same audience levels in terms of working people and youth."
Madrid was named a candidate city despite widespread fears about the state of the Spanish economy, leading Spanish IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. to state "it is the third time we have been invited to participate in the final run and we are very excited to bring this to Spain.
"This is a kind of Olympic competition with only a gold medal. We have bronze, silver and now we go for the gold."
Tokyo is hoping to stage the Games for the first time since 1964. The Japanese city's bid chief Masato Mizuno stated "te dream among the people who are facing the biggest difficulties in the whole world, we really believe the power of sport encourages people. So if we make a really super good
Olympic Games this inspires the whole world and the people in Japan."
Istanbul bid leader Hasan Arat played down the possible distraction of Turkey's bid for the 2020 UEFA European Championships, adding "we are here for the Olympics today, this is our priority.
"There will be one Games, one city, two continents - Istanbul offers a lot of things."
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