The IAAF stated that the German city of Berlin, Budapest in Hungary and an as-yet-unnamed Spanish city had entered the race for the Championships. London in England and the Qatari capital of Doha had already confirmed bids for the event.

“With the deadline now closed, letters of intent from Member Federations interested in hosting the 2017 edition of the IAAF World Championships have now been received from five countries,” stated the IAAF.

The IAAF will confirm the candidate cities for the Championships on September 1 and then select the host city at a Council meeting in November. The next edition of the Championships will be staged in Daegu, South Korean, later this year. Moscow in Russian will host the 2013 event and the 2015 Championships will take place in Beijing, China.

One issue for Doha is the extreme heat in the summer, but the country’s National Olympic Committee is in talks with the IAAF over possibly moving the event to later in the year. A Qatar Olympic Committee spokesperson told the Press Association: “We are presently considering the potential dates, and we will enter discussions with the IAAF over dates at the appropriate time during the bidding process.”

The spokesperson added: “Should Qatar's bid for the championships be successful, the proposed stadium would be Doha's Khalifa International Stadium which will be fully equipped with the latest environmentally friendly air-cooling technology.”