The international federation has set a February 15 deadline for new bids to host the championships.
Athens, Berlin and Long Beach, California, runner-up to Montreal when FINA chose the 2005 host, are believed to be among the possibilities.
The organising committee was about $5million short of the amount needed to stage the championships, according to aroundtherings.com. Three branches of government have spent more than $23million so far on the championships, most going to build three new pools in the city.
Lagging advance ticket sales were said to be one of the factors affecting the event’s finances.
