The International Olympic Committee told 2020 Olympic host hopefuls during a meeting this weekend that it is cutting lobbying efforts down from 16 to nine months.

Representatives from the six bid cities – Doha, Baku, Istanbul, Madrid, Rome and Tokyo – were briefed on the new rules during a meeting in Switzerland on Friday.

AP reports:

The last bids maybe spent too much money,” Tokyo 2020 bid CEO Masato Mizuno told The Associated Press.

“This time we only have nine months on the international campaign and we can save much money from last time.”

Recent bid contests have seen cities spending tens of millions of dollars on their campaigns.

The cities must submit bid files to the IOC by Feb. 15 of next year. The IOC executive board will meet next May to decide whether to keep all six candidates or reduce the list, and choose the host city by secret ballot on Sept. 7, 2013.

An interesting development, especially given allegations that Qatar “bought” the right to host the FIFA 2022 World Cup.

What do you guys think?