LAUSANNE, Dec 1: The International Olympic Committee has opened the bidding process for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games. The IOC said on Monday it has written to all 205 national Olympic committees seeking host city nominations.

The initial deadline for submission of candidates is February, with official bids to be entered by next July. The IOC executive board will select a shortlist in October, and IOC members will vote on the host city in February 2010 during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Even before the current global economic downturn, the IOC said the Youth Games should be staged in existing stadiums and venues and not burden the host city with new construction costs.

Singapore will host the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics in August 2010 with an operating budget of $75 million underwritten by the city-state’s government.

The 2014 event is scheduled to take place over 12 days with up to 3,500 athletes aged 14-18 competing in as many as possible of the 26 official Olympic summer sports.

The host for the first Youth Winter Olympics in 2012 will be announced at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, next week.

The final two candidates are Innsbruck, Austria, and Kuopio, Finland.

The Youth Olympics are a personal project of IOC president Jacques Rogge in his mission to fight obesity and encourage young people to take part in sports.—AP