London & Doha battle for 2017 Champs- 5 Sep 2011 00:00:00
London and Doha will go head-to-head to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships after Spanish city Barcelona withdrew its bid.
Barcelona, the host city of the 1992 Olympics and Paralympics, had been nominated as Spain's candidate less than two weeks ago but have now decided not to proceed with its bid.
As a result, when the deadline for bids was reached at midnight on 31st August only Doha and London had submitted applications.According to media reports, Spain’s athletics' governing body dropped their bid because of lack of financial guarantees from the Government and the city.
The IAAF is due to officially confirm that Doha and London are the only bidders on today.
The move will likely boost London's chances as it will mean that the European vote will not be split.
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