The battle for the 2012 Olympic Games will be a dramatic showdown between four European heavyweights - Paris, London, Madrid and Moscow - and New York.

The IOC's executive board rejected bids from Rio de Janeiro, Leipzig, Havana and Istanbul.

However, IOC president Jacques Rogge warned that the five elected cities were not guaranteed a place in the final vote by the IOC Session in July in Singapore next year.

"There is still a possibility of a future cut." he said. "After the evaluation report the IOC will study their findings in May (2005) before making a final proposal for the July session."

Rogge, asked about the four losers, said: "It is not up to the IOC to justify its decisions."

Leipzig, a city of only 500,000 people, and Havana, without any real infrastructure, were always outsiders.

Rio had been bidding to become the first South American city to stage the Games. Istanbul had been making its fourth consecutive bid.

Rio however are expected to have the consolation of hosting the 2014 World Cup. FIFA has already announced that South America will host 2014 and sources confirm that the nod has been given to Brazil.

In the evaluation commission report studied by the IOC executive board members to pick the 2012 candidates, Paris came out first, followed by Madrid, London, New York and Moscow.

"The working group has a high level of confidence that Paris, New York, London and Madrid have the capability to host the 2012 Olympic Games," the report said.

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