2020 Summer Olympics

The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, is a planned major international sports event that is scheduled to be held in the summer of 2020.

The three candidate cities to host the 2020 Olympics are Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid. The International Olympic Committee will elect the host city on 7 September 2013 at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Bidding process

The Olympic bidding process begins with the submission of a city's application to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by its National Olympic Committee (NOC) and ends with the election of the host city by the members of the IOC during an ordinary session. The process is governed by the Olympic Charter, as stated in Chapter 5, Rule 34.

Since 1999, the process has consisted of two phases. During the first phase, which begins immediately after the bid submission deadline, the "applicant cities" are required to answer a questionnaire covering themes of importance to a successful Games organization. This information allows the IOC to analyze the cities' hosting capacities and the strengths and weaknesses of their plans. Following a detailed study of the submitted questionnaires and ensuing reports, the IOC Executive Board selects the cities that are qualified to proceed to the next phase. The second phase is the true candidature stage: the accepted applicant cities (from now on referred to as "candidate cities") are required to submit a second questionnaire in the form of an extended, more detailed, candidature file. These files are carefully studied by the IOC Evaluation Commission, a group composed of IOC members, representatives of international sport federations, NOCs, athletes, the International Paralympic Committee, and international experts in various fields. It is chaired by Sir Craig Reedie. The members of the Evaluation Commission then make four-day inspection visits to each of the candidate cities, where they check the proposed venues and are briefed about details of the themes covered in the candidature file. The Evaluation Commission communicates the results of its inspections in a report sent to the IOC members up to one month before the electing IOC Session.

The IOC Session in which a host city is elected takes place in a country that did not submit an application to stage the Olympics. The election is made by the assembled active IOC members (excluding honorary and honor members), each possessing one vote. Members from countries that have a city taking part in the election cannot vote while the city is in the running. The voting is conducted in a succession of rounds until one bid achieves an absolute majority of votes; if this does not happen in the first round, the bid with the fewest votes is eliminated and another voting round begins. In the case of a tie for the lowest number of votes, a special runoff vote is carried out, with the winner proceeding to the next round. After each round, the eliminated bid is announced. Following the announcement of the host city, the successful bid delegation signs the "Host City Contract" with the IOC, which delegates the responsibilities of the Games organisation to the city and respective NOC.

Bidding timeline

The timeline of the host city selection process was approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board as follows:

• 2011:

16 May – IOC sent letters inviting the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to submit bids

July and August – IOC asked for NOCs to submit letters regarding compliance with the World Anti-doping Agency code by 29 July. The IOC also requested submissions of proposed dates if countries want to stage the Games outside the normal period set by the IOC (15 July to 31 August). The IOC responded to NOCs on these points by the end of August.

1 September – Deadline to submit the names of cities interested in hosting the 2020 Summer Games

2 September – IOC confirmed that they had received six bids

3–4 November – IOC held an information seminar for 2020 applicants

8 December – IOC announced the drawing lots order of applicant cities

• 2012:

15 February – application files and guarantee letters submitted to the IOC

23 May – IOC executive board in Quebec City decided which cities were to be approved as official candidate cities

27 July – 12 August – Olympic Games Observers’ Programme at the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London

14–21 November – 2012 Olympic Games debrief in Rio de Janeiro

• 2013:

7 January – Candidature Files Submitted

March 4–7 – IOC Evaluation Commission visited Tokyo

March 18–21 – IOC Evaluation Commission visited Madrid

March 24–27 – IOC Evaluation Commission visited Istanbul

July 3–4 – Candidate cities briefing to IOC Members in Lausanne

TBD – Report of the IOC evaluation commission

7 September – Election of the host city at 125th IOC session in Buenos Aires

Candidate cities

Candidate cities and countries

Six cities were put forward by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to apply to host the Games initially, but Rome withdrew its bid shortly before the applicant files were due. The bidding cities come from two continents, Europe and Asia (Istanbul is considered to be located on the border between Asia and Europe). In 2020 it will be twelve years since an Asian city hosted the Summer Olympics (Beijing 2008) and eight years since a European city hosted the Summer Olympics (London 2012). Out of the six bidders, Tokyo had previously hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1964. The other four bidders have made bids in the past. It is the first time in 20 years that no city in the Americas bid to host the Summer Olympic Games. Rio de Janeiro was awarded the 2016 Summer Olympics. Baku and Doha bid for the 2016 Games but failed to become candidate cities, while Tokyo and Madrid also bid for the 2016 Games and became candidate cities. The candidate cities for the 2020 Olympics are, in order of drawing lots:

Istanbul, Turkey

Further information: Istanbul bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics

Istanbul was nominated on 7 July 2011, at the 123rd IOC session, and was confirmed as Turkey's bid on 24 July 2011.

Istanbul hosted the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final and 2009 UEFA Cup Final in football, the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Men, the Euroleague 2011–12 Final Four in basketball,the WTA Tour Championships in tennis, and the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in athletics. Istanbul will also host the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women.

Tokyo, Japan

Further information: Tokyo bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics

Tokyo was selected by the Japanese Olympic Committee on 16 July 2011, and was confirmed as Japan's bidding city for the 2020 Games. Hiroshima was considering making a bid for the games but opted to pull out following poor public reaction to the bid as well as a lack of funding.

Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics. Japan has also hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972 and 1998 which were organized in Sapporo and Nagano respectively. Japan previously co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea; the final was held in Yokohama, near Tokyo. Japan will host the 2019 Rugby World Cup and two of the venues for the event are located in the Greater Tokyo Area.

Madrid, Spain

Further information: Madrid bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics

Madrid was nominated by the Spanish Olympic Committee executive committee on 1 June 2011. Madrid's 2020 bid is their third consecutive bid. Spain previously hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona. Spain hosted the 1982 FIFA World Cup and the final was held in Madrid.

Non-selected applicant cities

Baku, Azerbaijan

Further information: Baku bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics

It was announced at the 1 September 2011 deadline for bidding that Baku had submitted a bid to host the 2020 Olympics. Baku submitted their application file to the IOC on 1 February 2012. The National Assembly of Azerbaijan voted to endorse the bid in February 2012.

Doha, Qatar

Further information: Doha bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics

On 26 August 2011, Doha announced that it was bidding for the 2020 Games.

Doha hosted the 2006 Asian Games and the 2011 Pan Arab Games. In 2010, Qatar was selected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Several stadia will be located in Doha. The country also hosted the 1988 and 2011 AFC Asian Cups.

Cancelled bids

Rome, Italy

Further information: Rome bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics

Rome was nominated by the Italian National Olympic Committee on 19 May 2010. Italy's capital city was chosen over Venice as the country's bid for the 2020 Games.

Rome previously hosted the Summer Olympics in 1960. It bid to host the 2004 Games but lost to Athens in the final round of voting. Rome hosted the 2009 World Aquatics Championships as well as the 1990 FIFA World Cup final. Italy previously hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

However the Italian government withdrew its support from the bid on the eve of the delivery of the application files, stating that it would not be a responsible use of money in "Italy's current condition."

Bids which did not go to application

The following cities proposed bidding; however, they did not bid, or even formally announce their intentions to bid.

• Brisbane, Australia
• Cairo, Egypt
• Berlin, Germany
• Budapest, Hungary
• Delhi, India
• Nairobi, Kenya
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Guadalajara, Mexico
• Casablanca, Morocco
• Lisbon, Portugal

The following cities proposed submitting bids but announced prior to the 1 September deadline that they would not put forth a bid. The following list is in order of cancellation:

• Prague, Czech Republic, cancelled its bid because of the global financial crisis.
• Bucharest, Romania, decided not to proceed with its bid because the city hall's general counsellors believed the project would be unachievable.
• Busan, South Korea, decided not to bid following Pyeongchang's successful bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
• Paris, France, is now expected to bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, as France pulled out of the 2020 bid following the defeat of Annecy's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. 2024 would coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 1924 Olympics which were held in the French capital.
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was considering a bid for 2020 but decided to instead wait until 2024.
• Toronto, Canada, was considering a bid for the 2020 Games, but announced on 11 August 2011 that it was not bidding. The mayor's office stated that bidding on the 2020 Games would not be prudent in the current climate of global financial stagnation. Toronto is expected to bid on the 2024 Olympic Games.
• Durban, South Africa, was discussed as a potential bid, however it was announced on 17 August 2011, that South Africa would not put forth a 2020 bid.
• Saint Petersburg, Russia, decided not to bid despite having discussed the plan with the head of the Russian Olympic Committee. They withdrew on 22 August 2011, instead planning on bidding for either 2024 or 2028.
• Multiple cities in the United States were interested in bidding but the USOC confirmed that the US would not bid, citing financial reasons. The IOC stated that it would like to have received a bid for 2020 from the United States. On 29 August 2011, it was revealed that Las Vegas submitted a bid to the IOC without USOC consent. The IOC rejected the bid.

Sports

Following the 2012 Games, the IOC assessed the 26 sports held in London, with the remit of selecting 25 'core' sports to join new entrants golf and rugby sevens at the 2020 Games. In effect, this would involve the dropping of one sport from the 2016 Games program. This would leave a single vacancy in the 2020 Games program, which the IOC would seek to fill from a shortlist containing seven unrepresented sports and the removed sport. Events such as modern pentathlon, taekwondo and badminton were among those considered vulnerable.

On February 12, 2013, IOC leaders voted to drop wrestling from the Olympic program, a surprise decision that removed one of the oldest Olympic sports from the 2020 Games. Wrestling, which combines freestyle and Greco-Roman events, goes back to the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896, and even further to the Ancient Olympics.

The decision by the IOC to drop wrestling united many countries and their NOCs in opposition. )

Wrestling therefore joined seven other sports in a list of eight applying for inclusion in the 2020 Games.

On May 29th 2013, it was announced that three sports remained in contention: Squash, baseball/softball and wrestling. Five other sports; karate, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu were therefore excluded from consideration at this point.

At the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, the IOC will vote to include one of the three final sports in the program.

Television rights

On 6 January 2011, the IOC announced that it was considering packaging the U.S. television rights for four Olympics instead of the usual two: the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics, and the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. The IOC's lead negotiator Richard Carrion told the Associated Press the bidding war would be waged among NBC, ESPN, Fox and perhaps a CBS/Turner coalition. "We realize this is a major decision going forward for any of these guys," the IOC member from Puerto Rico said. "I would certainly support it if they want to go to four games, and do all the way to 2020."

IOC president Jacques Rogge heads the exclusive TV Rights and New Media Commission, but the organization of bidding falls to Carrion, who meets regularly with the networks to stoke interest in airing Sochi 2014 and Rio de Janeiro 2016. In packaging four Olympics, Carrion had another two Games to sell, but the 2018 host city would not be selected until 6 July and the 2020 host until 2013. The IOC took its time to seek a new deal for the U.S., hoping to ride out a recession to get the best price possible. The U.S. television rights are the IOC's single-largest source of revenue.

On 7 June 2011, the IOC awarded the U.S. television rights to the four Olympics to NBC in a deal worth more than $4 billion.

Below are the confirmed television right holders:

• France – France Télévisions
• North Korea – SBS
• South Korea – SBS
• United Kingdom – BBC
• United States – NBC

Predicting indices

Two websites, GamesBids.com and Around the Rings, feature predicting indices which specialize in evaluations of Olympic Games bids. They periodically release analysis of the candidates and assigns them a score between 0 and 100, or 0 and 110 respectively. The score produces a number that can be used to rate a bid relative to past successful bids – and possibly gauge its potential future success. GamesBids.com's scale is called BidIndex, AtR's is called the Power Index.

In preliminary rankings, Istanbul and Tokyo are given the edge as frontrunners with Madrid tied for second or in third. Doha makes fourth and Baku fifth. Both indices suggest there is still much to be evaluated and it is expected to be a volatile race.

External links

• International Olympic Committee
• 2020 Candidature Acceptance Procedure – Games of the XXXII Olympiad (IOC document)
• Istanbul 2020
• Tokyo 2020
• Madrid 2020