Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee, said in Denver today that the ruling Executive Board will analyse the seven applicant sports and then propose two at an IOC meeting in Berlin this summer.
Also in the running are baseball, karate, roller sports and softball.
Rogge said the IOC will review the sports at a meeting on to be held on August 13 before the opening ceremonies at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
He said: "The IOC session wanted to have some guidance on the election."
The IOC will choose a maximum of two new sports for 2016 when it meets in Copenhagen in October.
Softball and baseball took their last swings for at least eight years at the Beijing Olympics after an IOC vote in 2005 to exclude the sports for the 2012 London Games.
Rugby sevens, squash, golf, karate and roller sports were each considered for inclusion in the 2005 vote but none met a required two-thirds majority.
Since then, the system has been changed to require only a simple majority for addition of new sports.
