Qatar and Turkey are among seven countries who have expressed their interest in hosting the 2036 Summer Olympics, the International Olympic Committee revealed on Tuesday.
Germany, India, Hungary, South Africa and South Korea are also among the nations who are in preliminary talks with the IOC.
Qatar will be hoping the successful hosting of the 2022 Fifa World Cup will work in its favour as it aims to become the first Muslim-majority nation to host the biggest sporting event in the world.
A shortlist will be drawn up in March next year. Preferred hosts will be named after discussion in 2028 and a final decision is expected in mid-2029.
“Wherever the Games take place, one thing must never change: athletes have to be at the heart of everything we do ,” IOC president Kirsty Coventry said. “That is why, for every future host, delivering the best possible experience for the athletes must always be the starting point.”
Turkey has attempted to host the Olympics five times before, while South Africa is hoping to become the first African host of the Olympics. The African nation has experience of hosting a large scale tournament; it hosted the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
India too is looking to host its first Olympics, having last held the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
Hungary most recently bid for the 2024 Olympics, while Germany is looking for its second Games after the 1972 Olympics.
South Korea, meanwhile, has one of the strongest candidatures, having staged both the summer and winter Olympics in Seoul in 1988 and Pyeongchang in 2018, and also the 2022 Fifa World Cup alongside Japan.
Bidding rules changed under Coventry this year, with the addition of the strategic dialogue stage. It is also likely that more than one country will be named as preferred hosts, unlike in past where just one bidder was put forward by the IOC executive board.
Los Angeles will stage the 2028 Olympics and Australia's Brisbane will host the Games four years later.
The IOC said that hosting the Olympics will benefit the host nation, stating that Paris 2024 is set to bring an estimated net contribution of €9-11 billion to the French economy by 2034.
