Havana, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul and Leipzig in Germany were dropped after a unanimous decision of the international Olympic Committee’s executive board, IOC president Jacques Rogge told a news conference.
Having survived the cull, the five cities have until July 6 next year to convince the IOC’s membership to award them the world’s most important sports event.
Rogge said it was possible one or more of the five cities could be removed from the list in May 2005 if the IOC did not believe they “could deliver”.
