The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it had received formal applications from Baku, Azerbaijan; Chicago; Doha, Qatar; Madrid, Spain; Prague, Czech Republic; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Tokyo.

 

Thursday was the deadline for submission of applications by national Olympic committees.

 

The host city will be selected by the IOC on October  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 January 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 February 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.