Bids by cities hoping to host the 2012 Olympic Games have to be submitted to the International Olympic Committee by today.

Apart from London, formal letters of application are expected from Paris, New York, Madrid, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Leipzig and Havana.

By 15 January 2004, bidding cities have to prepare and submit a report outlining their plans for hosting the Games. These will undergo a preliminary examination by the IOC and those cities meeting the committee’s criteria will go forward to the final round of the bidding process, which takes place in Singapore in 2005.

Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC, has been reported as saying that as many as six or seven of today’s applicant cities could make it to the final.