The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched the bid process for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016.

The 203 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have been invited to submit the name of a city within their jurisdiction as an Applicant to host the Games in nine years’ time.

Several cities have already declared their intention to bid including Tokyo, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Madrid and Monterrey, Mexico. No Australian city has indicated they will bid.

The IOC has released a detailed 98-page document with instructions, bidding rules, dates and an extensive questionnaire.

Potential bidders have until September 13, 2007 to submit their intentions to the IOC which must be followed by a signature on the bid rule sheet and an application fee of USD$150,000 before October 1, 2007.

The bid questionnaire must be completed by January 14, 2008 - it will be used by the IOC Executive Board to select a short list of candidates in June 2008.

Candidates will be required to pay an additional fee of USD$500,000 and will then produce a detailed bid proposal that must be delivered to the IOC by February 12, 2009.

Finally, the election will take place at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, Denmark on October 2, 2009.

There are many rules regarding logos and when international marketing campaigns can commence. One of these is that applicants that are already preparing for their bids are asked not to use their official logo any time before July 9, 2007 - after the 2014 Olympic Winter Games Bid election in Guatemala.

AOC