Sapporo Abandons Bid for 2030 Winter Olympics

 The northern Japanese city of Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture, has decided to give up its bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics, local media reported on Friday citing sources close to the matter.

Sapporo, which in 2014 announced its bid to host the Winter Olympics, on Tuesday announced revised plans for running the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The decision was made amid growing public distrust over the bribery and bid-rigging scandals connected to the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021.

"However, Sapporo officials apparently decided that the city would need more time to gain understanding of its residents for hosting the sports extravaganza," Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported on Friday.

Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto said he will meet with Japanese Olympic Committee President Yasuhiro Yamashita in Tokyo as early as Oct. 11 to discuss the plans, according to the paper.

Sapporo, which hosted the games in 1972, was once considered the front-runner to host the Winter Olympics for a second time, but the International Olympic Committee appears to have shifted its focus to other candidates after the scandals linked to the Tokyo Games, the report added.