The Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) expressed this Wednesday its surprise at the decision International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the decision on the seat of the Winter Olympic Games 2030, for which the Japanese city of Sapporo is a candidate.
“Frankly, I’m surprised”said the president of the JOC, Yasuhiro Yamashita, in statements collected by the local agency Jiji.
The city of northern Japan “It has most of the facilities already built and usable with reforms”said Yamashita, who also stressed that the management capacity of the Asian country “is well valued” after carrying out the Tokyo summer Games last year.
“We will continue negotiating with the IOC on the agenda and the specific procedures after the decision of the day before,” said the mayor of Sapporo, Katsuhiro Akimoto, in statements collected by the NHK chain.
The person in charge of the JOC also described as “imaginations” the possibility that the growing legal problems affecting the organization of Tokyo 2020 and associated entities may undermine Sapporo’s candidacy.
The Japanese authorities have made several arrests of former members of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee and companies subcontracted by that entity on suspicion that they were involved in a bribery network related to the granting of sponsorships for the event.
The Japanese advertising giant Dentsu, peppered with alleged bribery, is also the target of a parallel investigation into apparent wrongdoing in the tenders to organize the test events of the last Olympic Games in the Japanese capital.
These open causes add to a long list of scandals carried out by the organization, which added to the perception that the Winter Games could bring inconvenience to Sapporo residentshas undermined popular support for Japan’s 2030 bid, though its backers insist on going ahead with the project.
The IOC decided on Tuesday that the decision on the venue for the 2030 Winter Games there will be no vote in the 2023 Sessionas planned, but later.
The IOC cited the need for more time to discuss the challenges posed by climate change and the sustainability of the Winter Olympic Games.
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Along with Sapporo, the candidate cities to organize the 2030 edition are Salt Lake City (USA) and Vancouver (Canada).
The three candidacies were expected to meet this month which of them would enter the next phase of “directed dialogue” with the IOC to develop a solvent and sustainable project.