DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Doha will bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The Qatari city will compete with Rome, Madrid, Tokyo and Istanbul. The deadline for cities to express interest is Sept. 1. The Gulf state last year won the right to host soccer’s first World Cup in the Middle East in 2022.
The International Olympic Committee is allowing Doha to propose hosting the games between Sept. 20 and Oct. 20. That period would remove the games from the country’s searing summer heat.
Qatari Olympic Committee President Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani says “to simply have a chance to enter the bidding process is a step closer to realizing something very special for our nation.”
The IOC will elect the 2020 host city on Sept. 7, 2013.
