Moscow Bids To Host Athletics Champ 2005

Moscow's bid to host the 2005 world athletics championships has a good chance of success, the Russian athletics chief said on Tuesday. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said on Tuesday that Rome, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Helsinki, Munich and Stuttgart were the other contenders to replace original hosts London, who withdrew after the British government shelved a plan to build a stadium for the event. Moscow has a five-star Luzhniki Olympic stadium which has a capacity of more than 84,000 and this city has hosted a number of major international sporting events in the past. The IAAF, the sport's governing body, will announce its decision during a council meeting on April 14 in Nairobi, the Russia Journal reported.