Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo Make the Cut; Will Bid for 2020 Olympics

Reporting from SportAccord in Quebec, Canada

Quebec, Canada - Bids from Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo have been accepted to an International Olympic Committee (IOC) short list to host the 2020 Olympic Games.  The IOC Executive Board made the announcement at the SportAccord Convention in Quebec City, Canada Wednesday.

Missing from the list were Baku and Doha after they had submitted applications in February but failed to achieve a benchmark score required by the IOC in order to continue with the campaign.

The accepted bids will now enter the second phase of the process creating detailed plans for their proposed Games and hosting the IOC site evaluation committee for an inspection next spring.  The IOC will elect the winner September 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Tokyo and Madrid, both having been on the ballot in the final vote for the 2016, were expected to make it through this time as well.

Istanbul has bid four times in the recent past, and despite recent accusations that Turkey has lost focus by also bidding for the 2020 UEFA Euro, was also expected to make the cut.

Doha missed the shortlist during its run at the 2016 Games because the Qatari city proposed Games dates outside of the window requested by the IOC and was disqualified.

Baku missed the shortlist for the 2016 Games after an evaluation report scored the bid below a minimum benchmark set by the IOC for candidates.

Check back soon for a complete scoring analysis and more news on this developing story from Quebec.