IOC will inspect Madrid bid first
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Madrid will be the first stop on a tour by an IOC panel assessing the five bid cities for the 2012 Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee said Monday its evaluation commission would visit Madrid on Febuary 3-6.
That will be followed by stops in London (Febuary 16-19), New York (Febuary 21-24), Paris (March 9-12) and Moscow (March 14-17).
The 11-member panel, led by Morocco's Nawal El Moutawakel, will meet with bid leaders and city and government officials during the visits.
The commission will compile a report evaluating each city's credentials on issues such as venues, security, transportation, hotels and financing.
The report will be published at least one month before the full IOC selects the host city at its session in Singapore on July 6.
IOC members have been barred from visiting bid cities since the Salt Lake City scandal in 1998 and 1999. The evaluation report can serve as an important guide for the 100-plus members, who vote by secret ballot.
In May, the IOC selected London, Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris as the 2012 finalists from an initial list of nine cities. The complete bid files must be submitted to the IOC by November 15.
El Moutawakel, the 400-meter hurdles champion at the 1984 Los Angeles, has been an IOC member since 1998.
She was the first woman from a Muslim nation to win an Olympic medal and the first Moroccan athlete to win gold.
