
Officials from Sapporo and the Japanese Olympic Committee on Wednesday announced a decision to withdraw the northern Japanese city as a candidate to host the 2030 Winter Olympics, with the effort soiled by massive corruption and bid-rigging tied to the one-year delayed Tokyo Games.
Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto and JOC President Yasuhiro Yamashita, at a joint news conference in Tokyo, said they are withdrawing because of the lack of support from the citizens whose trust was largely lost because of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic corruption cases that erupted last year.