Olympic Games 2020: pros and cons of the contending capitals

Around 3,000 journalists from around the world are gathered in Buenos Aires as the rest of us wait for the chosen host city of the 2020 Olympic Games to be revealed on Saturday evening.

The contenders? Madrid, Tokyo and Istanbul. Three very different capital cities vie for the chance to host the Summer Games where thousands of the world's top athletes will come together to compete in an array of sporting events. While they wait to find out if their destiny is to change over the next seven years, we take a look at the pros and cons of the three candidates ahead of the decision the world is waiting for...

– with an infrastructure budget of only $1.9billion, Madrid is by far the cheapest of the three candidates. Istanbul’s budget is $19billion

– 80 percent of its competition sites are built. Spain’s capital also has a good transport system and city airport and is experienced at staging major events

– "Everybody likes being in Spain," says Olympic historian David Wallechinsky

– Spain currently suffers from a crippling 27 per cent jobless rate

– In terms of innovation and technology, Tokyo is one of the world’s leaders – a huge factor when it comes to building the infrastructure needed for the Games. The Japanese capital also has a generous budget and has already hosted the Games back in 1964

– Tokyo is listed as the world's third largest economy

– Tokyo offers 85 per cent of its facilities within a five-mile radius, with a maximum displacement in the core of 30 minutes. The transportation network is also one of the most advanced and efficient in the world

– It aims to build the Olympic Village Tokyo Harumi Island, which can accommodate 17,000 athletes

– Concerns of another possible environmental disaster as the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, located about 220 kilometres northeast of the Japanese capital, continues to leak radioactive water into the Pacific

– It would be the first time that the Olympic Games were held in two continents, Europe and Asia, making the Games transcontinental

– The wide multiculturalism would place the Olympics for the first time in a predominantly Muslim country

– Istanbul is a rapidly expanding city with a robust economy

– It is the fifth time as a candidate for the Olympic Games

– It has only built 11 of the 38 facilities proposed to the IOC. The transport network is a far cry from that offered in Madrid, let alone Tokyo

– Turkey shares a border with Syria

– The recent protests and popular revolts that occurred in Turkey in June have brought the Turkish capital’s safety into question