SportBusiness unveils Ultimate Sports City 2012 Awards shortlist

25 cities have made the shortlist to be considered the SportBusiness Ultimate Sports City of 2012.

Representing all the continents in the world, the shortlist includes some candidates that have featured in the three previous editions between 2006 and 2010, as well as some new 'wild card' entrants.

Melbourne, the reigning Ultimate Sports City, winning the coveted title in 2006, 2008 and 2010, will once again be challenged by Sydney, as well as Singapore, London, Berlin, Vancouver, Manchester, Dubai and Paris. Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Glasgow, Doha, Madrid, Moscow and Budapest all make a return to the shortlist. Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur return to contention having last appeared in 2008 and 2006, respectively.

Five cities appearing on the shortlist for the very first time are Sochi, PyeongChang, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Durban and Buenos Aires, which have all been selected by the SportBusiness Ultimate Sports City team of expert judges.

The SportBusiness Ultimate Sport Cities Awards are the internationally recognised rankings of the world's top sports hosts. Held every two years since 2006, the 2012 awards will be the fourth time the gong has been handed out. Cities are selected based on SportBusiness' expert judging panel, all of whom have extensive knowledge of sports events and the destinations that host them.

As in the past, the shortlisted cities will be evaluated according to the size and volume of events they have hosted between 2008 and 2016 alongside a range of other criteria. To reflect the number of smaller cities aspiring to host major sports events,

SportBusiness will once again use size bands enabling awards to be made to cities with populations of one million or below, between one million and 3.5 million, between 3.5 million and seven million and finally, seven million or above. The final results will be announced at the SportAccord Convention in Quebec City next month.

Speaking about the shortlist, Ultimate Sports Cities 2012 head judge and report author Rachael Church-Sanders explained "there are some strong contenders to rival Melbourne this time around for title of Ultimate Sports City of 2012. By also including some 'wild

card' entries this time around, we are thrilled to be able to give some smaller cities the chance to compete against the big boys in the major events marketplace."

The final shortlist for Ultimate Sports Cities 2012, in alphabetical order, is as follows:

• Amsterdam
• Berlin
• Budapest
• Buenos Aires
• Copenhagen
• Doha
• Dubai
• Durban
• Glasgow
• Istanbul
• Kuala Lumpur
• London
• Madrid
• Manchester
• Melbourne
• Moscow
• New York
• Paris
• PyeongChang
• Rio de Janeiro
• Singapore
• Sochi
• Sydney
• Tokyo
• Vancouver.

Image shows the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

1st November 2010 - MELBOURNE: AUSTRALIA’S MOST LIVEABLE CITY

2nd April 2008 - MELBOURNE RETAINS ULTIMATE SPORTS CITY TITLE