Doha and Baku were eliminated from consideration for the 2020 Olympics on Wednesday by the International Olympic Committee.
Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul made the cut as the IOC executive board settled on the finalists in a meeting in Quebec City.
Doha, capital of the Gulf state of Qatar, and Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, also failed to make the final list for the 2016 Games.
Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul will go through a 17-month competition until the IOC votes in 2014.
SOCCER: Queens Park Rangers captain Joey Barton was given a 12-game ban and fined $118,000 by the Football Association for violent conduct in the last English Premier League game of the season. The midfielder was sent off for elbowing Manchester City's Carlos Tevez, and then kicked Sergio Aguero and tried to head-butt Vincent Kompany before being wrestled off the field by teammates.
Barton, who served six months in jail after a street fight in Liverpool in 2008 and was arrested for assaulting a taxi driver in 2007, has accumulated a long list of fines and bans by the FA for incidents over the last eight years, including attacking teammates during training, pushing a lit cigar into a teenage teammate's eye at a 2004 Christmas party, fighting a 15-year-old fan while on an Asian tour, and mooning fans during a match at Everton.
After four years at Aston Villa, American goalkeeper Brad Guzan was released by the Birmingham-based English Premier League club.
In Major League Soccer, New York Red Bulls striker Kenny Cooper scored in the 56th minute to salvage a 1-1 tie with Chivas USA in Harrison, N.J. Juan Pablo Angel tallied for Chivas.
In his first start, American Brian Span scored to lift Djurgarden to a 1-1 tie with Helsingborg in Sweden.
TENNIS: The Czech Republic closed out a 3-0 victory over the United States as Frantisek Cermak and Radek Stepanek defeated Andy Roddick and Ryan Harrison, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 10-8 in the doubles at the Team World Cup in Duesseldorf, Germany.
Freshman Yannick Hanfmann rallied late in the third set to beat Justin Shane in singles and help Southern Cal (33-1) win its fourth straight national championship - and 20th overall - with a 4-2 victory over Virginia (29-2) in Athens, Ga.
NOTEWORTHY:Joaquin Rodriguez won the 17th stage of the Giro d'Italia to keep the overall lead. The Spaniard crossed the line into Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, in 5 hours, 24 minutes, 41 seconds.
Russia's hockey team might be built with an eye on the Olympics in Sochi in 2014. Alexander Semin of the Washington Capitals scored two goals as Russia won the gold medal in the IIHF world championships Sunday by beating Slovakia, 6-2, in Helsinki, Finland. Tournament MVP Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins also scored for Russia.
North Philadelphia's undefeated light-welterweight Danny Garcia (23-0, 14 KOs) will defend his WBC title against Amir Khan (26-2 18 KOs) on July 14 in Los Angeles or Las Vegas.
- Staff and wire reports
