Eight cities from four continents have officially bid to host the 2009 world championships, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced.

The bidding cities are Delhi, Berlin, Brisbane, Brussels, Casablanca, Taegu, Split and Valencia.

"I am delighted not only to have such a large list of impressive candidates, but that they are so widely spread geographically," said IAAF President Lamine Diack. A final decision on the winning bidder will be made at the autumn meeting of the IAAF council later this year.

The 2005 championships will be staged in Helsinki and the 2007 edition in Osaka.