Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Brussels, Budapest, Helsinki, Rome and Moscow have expressed an interest in hosting the 2005 world athletics championships, the IAAF said today.
The International Association of Athletics Federations was forced to reopen the bidding process after plans to build a stadium in London, the original hosts, were shelved by the British government in October.
A proposal to shift the games - the third biggest sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games and soccer World Cup-- to the northern British city of Sheffield was rejected by the IAAF.
Delegates from the eight cities, which all submitted a letter of intent ahead of Monday's deadline, will visit the headquarters of the sport's governing body in Monaco for a briefing on Friday, an IAAF statement said.
The decision on the successful bid will be made at an IAAF council meeting in Nairobi on April 14th.