The Commission, headed by Britain's Sir Craig Reedie, is due to begin its inspection of Madrid next Sunday (March 18). 

Madrid City Council have started putting up posters on the main streets, promoting the Madrid 2020 bid and the second phase of its volunteer campaign.


Complete with an inspiring slogan, "Necesitamos tu manera de querer" (We Need Your Way of Loving), the campaign aims to attract even more volunteers than the 20,000 who have already signed up.

"Our way of loving is what binds us and together our love is stronger than anyone's," said the Council and the bid in a joint statement.

The IOC Evaluation Commission finished its first visit, to Tokyo, last Thursday (March 7) and is due to travel from Madrid to Istanbul, where it is set to begin its four-day inspection on March 24.

Madrid is considered the outsider in the three-horse race, mainly because of Spain's economic crisis, but bid leader Alejandro Blanco warned not to write them off.


"People have to trust us because the project is very good," he said. 

This is Madrid's third consecutive bid - and their fifth in total - and Blanco believes that the IOC Evaluation Commission, which also includes IOC members Switzerland's Patrick Baumann, Germany's Claudia Bokel, France's Guy Drut, Namibia's Frankie Fredericks and Thailand's Nat Indrapana, will be impressed by Madrid's efforts this time. 

"We are looking forward to the Commission arriving here and showing them what we have," he said. 

"These are 15 people who know the Candidature files by heart and the dossier of each candidate.

"I am confident that we will be ranked top."

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