The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to make cities pay to bid to host the Olympics.
IOC sports director Gilbert Felli said today that from the next campaign - the race for the 2010 Winter Olympics - it would cost $100,000 to apply to stage the Games and $500,000 for each candidate that reaches the final stage of the process.
The money will be used to fund the IOC's selection procedure, involving experts visiting the candidate cities, and to support a transfer of knowledge programme where information about bidding and staging the Games is provided to the bidders.
Asked if the fee could also be a deterrent those who use the campaign solely to promote their city worldwide without having any chance of winning, Felli said: "It could be. It is the first time they will have to pay."
The venue for the 2010 Games will be decided by a vote in Prague in July next year but the race is already under way. Eight venues announced their bids earlier this year - Andorra, Berne (Switzerland), Harbin (China), Jaca (Spain), Vancouver, Salzburg (Austria), Sarajevo and Pyeon Chang (South Korea).
The IOC will agree a final shortlist of candidates from the eight when its executive board meets in August in Lausanne. IOC experts will then visit and report on each potential host before the whole IOC membership votes on the venue in Prague.
Speaking after presenting a report to a meeting of the IOC's executive, Felli said the race for the 2008 Summer Olympics, won by Beijing last year, had cost the IOC two million dollars.
"The information we provide needs updating," Felli said explaining the new fees. "There are documents, seminars."
The 2010 applicants have until the end of May to provide their initial documents for the bidding process. Vancouver, Salzburg and Berne are expected to be among the front-runners.
The next Winter Games, in 2006, have already been awarded to Turin. The next Summer Games will take place in Athens in 2004.