HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) Hiroshima and Nagasaki will continue to explore the possibility of cohosting the 2020 Summer Olympic Games despite a negative response from a key International Olympic Committee executive, officials said Tuesday.

“We understand that we have to overcome towering hurdles, though we haven’t received an official response from the IOC side,” said Koji Utsunomiya, head of Hiroshima’s sports promotion division.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue said, “We will come up with necessary measures after hearing the actual reasons (for the negative comments).”

Taue and Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba announced Sunday that the two atomic-bombed cities have decided to set up a joint committee to bid for the games.

Citing the Olympic Charter’s policy on host cities, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli expressed a negative view Monday on a joint bid.

“The Olympic Charter clearly states only one city can host the Olympics. It does not allow two cities to cohost the games. At the moment, the answer is no,” Felli said.

Referring to discussions during the recent Olympic Congress meeting, he said: “There was a proposal to review the bid process, and it may change in the future. But the bid process for the 2020 games will start in July or August of 2011 and it is unlikely that the process will change by then.”

The host city for the 2020 games will be selected by the IOC in 2013.

Felli suggested it would be possible for one of the cities to host the games and the other to host another sporting event, such as the first stage of a soccer competition.

Given the development, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Tuesday that the central government didn’t want to comment yet because it is not clear what the Japanese Olympic Committee, which operates events and provides services to promote the games, intends to do.

“It’s something the government will contemplate by keeping in mind what the JOC comes up with,” Hirano told a news conference, adding he has yet to hear what Tokyo aims to do regarding the 2020 Olympics.

Some JOC executives have already expressed their reluctance, if not opposition, to the idea of hosting the games jointly by Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

JOC Chairman Tsunekazu Takeda warned Sunday that a joint bid by multiple cities would be unprecedented.

He also said that the JOC has yet to analyze why Tokyo failed earlier this month in its bid to host the 2016 games.

The capital has yet to decide whether it will try for the 2020 version.

Hiroshima’s Utsunomiya pointed out that in the past some Olympic events have been held outside the host city.

“We will study some possibilities for effective joint hosting, such as designating one city as the host of the Olympics while setting up venues for some events in the other,” he said.