National Olympic committees have until Sept. 1 to submit the names of cities seeking to host the 2020 Summer Games.
The International Olympic Committee executive board approved the 2020 bid timetable, which will culminate with the host city vote in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sept. 7, 2013. The IOC will send letters inviting Olympic bodies to submit bids by May 16.
For the first time, prospective candidates must first comply with rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency and accept the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport before being allowed to bid. National committees also must notify the IOC by July 29 whether they propose to hold the games outside the usual July 15-August 31 period.
In the previous bid contest, the Qatari city of Doha proposed staging the 2016 Games in October to escape the summer heat. Doha made it through the initial bid phase but was omitted from the shortlist of finalists, mainly due to concerns over the dates.
Doha and another Gulf city - Dubai, United Arab Emirates - are potential bidders for 2020.
Once the names of applicant cities have been submitted, initial bid files must be delivered to the IOC by Feb. 15, 2012. In May of that year, the IOC executive board will decide which to approve as official candidate cities.
In the second phase, official bid books must be submitted in January 2013. An IOC evaluation commission will visit the cities in March and April, and issue a report assessing the bids in June, three months before the secret vote at the IOC assembly in Buenos Aires.
So far, only Rome - which hosted the 1960 Olympics - has been nominated by its national Olympic committee to bid for 2020. The South African city of Durban is also expected to enter the race in a bid to bring the games to Africa for the first time.
Other potential bidders include Tokyo; Madrid; Istanbul, Turkey; and the two Gulf cities.
The IOC will first select the 2018 Winter Games host on July 6 in Durban. The candidates are Annecy, France; Munich; and Pyeongchang, South Korea.
