The city of Sapporo will halt its efforts to bring a Winter Games to the northern Japan city, sources said Wednesday.
Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto is expected to announce that the city will put on hold its bidding activities to host a Winter Olympics and Paralympics, during a meeting with officials from the Japanese Olympic Committee and relevant local governments slated for Tuesday.
Sapporo initially worked toward hosting the 2030 Games but abandoned this plan because of a lack of public support mainly due to bid-rigging and bribery scandals related to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
The city switched its target to 2034 or later, but the likelihood of success disappeared as the International Olympic Committee narrowed down the candidates for the 2030 and 2034 events.
The IOC also invited Switzerland into so-called privileged dialogue over hosting the 2038 Games, effectively crushing the possibility of Sapporo holding the event.
Following the developments, Akimoto at a Sapporo city assembly meeting pointed to the need for the city to stop and think about its Winter Games bid.
According to Sapporo officials, the city government concluded that it would be best for the city to halt its bid efforts, leaving open the possibility of eventually hosting a Winter Games in the future, out of concerns that announcing an end to the activities may give the impression that the city will not engage in any such activities at all.