The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed that six cities - including Doha, Qatar, and Tokyo, Japan - have been put forward as prospective hosts for the 2020 Games.

Baku, Azerbaijan; Istanbul, Turkey; Madrid, Spain; and Rome, Italy, were also put forward as applicant cities for the XXXII Olympiad ahead of the IOC's 1 September deadline. The six prospective hosts will now go forward into a two-phase process, the first of which is the Candidature Acceptance Procedure and scrutinise each city's ability to host the Games.

Phase one will conclude in May 2012 when the IOC Executive Board accepts bidding cities, with the second stage - the Candidature Procedure - to focus on operational matters. A decision will be made on the 2020 Games' host at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 7 September 2013.