By Duncan Mackay at the Sport Accord Convention in Québec City

Olympic ringsMay 23 - Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo were today put on the shortlist to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics as Baku and Doha were axed.


It was the second time in a row that Doha and Baku had been rejected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after failing to make the final list for the 2016 Games.

Madrid is bidding for a third consecutive time, Tokyo a second time in a row and Istanbul a fifth time overall.

The three finalists were chosen by the IOC's ruling Executive Committee after examining a technical evaluation report compiled by a panel of technical experts.

The IOC Executive Board members were unanimous that Madrid and Tokyo should progress to the next phase while only one of the 12 who voted were against Istanbul.

Three voted for Doha with nine against.

But the decision not to put Baku forward to the next stage was unanimous with all 12 voting against them.

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