Japan's Sapporo, once famous for hosting the Winter Olympics for the first time in 1972, suddenly announced in October that Sapporo would abandon its bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and the possibility of hosting the Winter Olympics after 2034. After the news was released, the support of the Japanese people for holding large-scale international events also dropped significantly.
However, to everyone's more unexpected,There is news that Sapporo, Japan, will end its plan to apply for the Winter Olympics (at least until 2042).The reason is that the public fears that the costs will be much higher than initially anticipated and that local taxes will have to increase. Earlier, the bid for the Sapporo Winter Olympics had been affected by the Tokyo Olympics bidding fraud scandal.
The Japanese public's concerns are unfounded. The data shows thatThe Tokyo Olympics cost 164 trillion yen (115.)US$700 million), much higher than the initial estimate of 734 billion yen, an overrun of more than 200%. This came as a shock to many local taxpayers, as nearly 60% of the bills were paid by Tokyo residents.
At the same time,Spending on the 2025 Osaka Expo has already increased by about 40% compared to the original planAnd it is likely that local residents will again have to fill at least part of the gap, and Sapporo citizens do not want to bear similar bills.
Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto is a staunch supporter of Sapporo's second Winter Olympics after hosting it in 1972, but he will announce the cancellation of the Winter Olympics at a meeting with the Japanese Olympic Committee and local *** on Tuesday, according to local reports.
At the end of November, the International Olympic Committee confirmed that the French Alps are the preferred host for the 2030 Winter Olympics and Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, as the preferred host for the 2034 Winter Olympics. The IOC also said that Switzerland is the first choice for the 2038 Olympics and that Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo is preparing to host the next Olympics in 2026.
In addition to the cost of hosting, the Tokyo Olympics have been marred by a series of financial scandals. Senior members of the Organising Committee have been accused of manipulating bids for contracts related to the GamesAnd accept rebates in exchange for lucrative trades.
Yasuo Mori, the executive in charge of the Olympics' operations, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for four years, at a recent court hearing in Tokyo on Monday for systematically manipulating bids worth about 43.7 billion yen.
While some see regret, others breathe a sigh of relief. Makoto Watanabe, a professor of communication at Bunkyo University in Hokkaido, pointed out that everyone knows about Tokyo's problems, and he doesn't want the same thing to happen again in Sapporo.
He believes that there is nothing to be gained in imposing a costly and disruptive event on the locals. After all, for locals, hosting an event means paying off debts over many years, and it's not worth it.