Olympic Movement
11.04.2023
Sapporo to consider delaying bid for Winter Olympics to 2034
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Japanese Olympic Committee President Yasuhiro Yamashita has revealed that talks are set to get underway over possibly delaying Sapporo's bid for the Winter Olympics from 2030 to 2034.
Yamashita's plans were reported by Japanese news agency Kyodo News and come just a day after Katsuhiro Akimoto was re-elected as Mayor of Sapporo.
Akimoto has been behind Sapporo's push to stage the Games since he was first elected Mayor of the Japanese city in 2015.
Kaoru Takano and Hideo Kibata, who were both opposed to a Winter Olympic bid, challenged Akimoto in the election but lost to the 67-year-old who secured a fresh four-year term yesterday.
Akimoto had been aiming to host the Winter Olympics in 2030 but Yamashita admitted that Sapporo's Mayoral election "made it clear that many local residents are concerned and anxious".
Yamashita's plans were reported by Japanese news agency Kyodo News and come just a day after Katsuhiro Akimoto was re-elected as Mayor of Sapporo.
Akimoto has been behind Sapporo's push to stage the Games since he was first elected Mayor of the Japanese city in 2015.
Kaoru Takano and Hideo Kibata, who were both opposed to a Winter Olympic bid, challenged Akimoto in the election but lost to the 67-year-old who secured a fresh four-year term yesterday.
Akimoto had been aiming to host the Winter Olympics in 2030 but Yamashita admitted that Sapporo's Mayoral election "made it clear that many local residents are concerned and anxious".
It's hard to go ahead with the original bid plan without gaining people's understanding,
said Yamashita in a report by Kyodo News.
Mayor to Sapporo Katsuhiro Akimoto, who wants to bring the Winter Olympics to Sapporo, was re-elected yesterday ©Getty Imagesv
We have to do things carefully.
Otherwise, we can't move forward.
A series of recent surveys have indicted growing opposition to a Sapporo bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics, with one poll conducted by Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting (UHB) on election day revealing that 60 per cent of respondents were against staging the Games.
However, the level of support for a bid cannot be truly known after city officials decided not to hold a public referendum. Akimoto told UHB that he did "not think that the citizens have decided whether or not to bid in this election", and wants "to do my best to continue the discussion".
Sapporo had long been viewed as the frontrunner to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, but its bid was "paused" last December following declining public support due to alleged bid-rigging for contracts linked to test events prior to Tokyo 2020.
Akimoto has admitted that the bribery scandal which has implicated former Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee Executive Board member Haruyuki Takahashi and operations executive Yasuo Mori as well as several companies must be resolved before Sapporo can proceed with a bid.
Sapporo had been the frontrunner to secure the hosting rights for the 2030 Winter Olympics but its bid was paused following the Tokyo 2020 bribery scandal ©Getty Images
It has been estimated that the Games in Sapporo would cost between ¥297 billion (£1.85 billion/$2.25 billion/€2.1 billion) and ¥317 billion (£1.9 billion/$2.4 billion/€2.2 billion).
Japan has staged the Winter Olympics twice with Sapporo playing host in 1972, followed by Nagano in 1998.
Should Sapporo drop out of the race for the 2030 Games, it would leave the International Olympic Committee (IOC) facing a further headache as it struggles to secure a host.
Vancouver in Canada has already announced that it would no longer be in contention after failing to secure support from the British Columbia Government, while Salt Lake City in the United States said it would prefer to bid for 2034 to avoid a clash with Los Angeles 2028 sponsorships.
The IOC had wanted to confirm a host for 2030 at this year's delayed Session in Mumbai, but those plans were pushed back to 2024.
Sweden has launched a feasibility study into making a bid and has held talks with Latvia over joining forces, while Switzerland has also revealed its ambitions to put itself in the mix for the hosting rights of a future edition of the Games.
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