Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto is expected to announce that the city will suspend its bid to host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics at a meeting with officials from the Japan Olympic Committee and relevant local governments scheduled for Tuesday.

This confirms a withdrawal that had been rumoured for months due to public concern that costs would far exceed original projections, local taxes would have to rise and the event would be a scandal.

The Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) had already withdrawn its bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics in Sapporo in October, in the face of public rejection of the initiative and in the wake of the continuing scandals surrounding the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Sapporo had initially been working towards hosting the Games in 2030, but abandoned this plan due to a lack of public support, largely as a result of the bid-rigging and bribery scandals surrounding the Tokyo 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The city shifted its target to 2034 or later. But the chances of success disappeared when the International Olympic Committee narrowed down the candidates for the 2030 and 2034 events.

The IOC also invited Switzerland to take part in a so-called privileged dialogue on hosting the 2038 Games. This effectively ended Sapporo's chances of hosting the event.

Japan has twice hosted the Winter Games, with Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.