Moscow joins race for Olympics

Moscow has joined the list of cities bidding to stage the 2012 Olympics.

Its candidature was officially announced by city mayor Yuri Luzhkov after a meeting of the Russian Olympic Committee on Friday.

Moscow joins a strong field – including of London, Paris, New York, Leipzig, Madrid and Havana – as declared candidates, with either Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo expected to stand for Brazil.

The Russian capital staged the games in 1980, but it was weakened by an American-led boycott following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan a year earlier.