Mario Pescante, the vice-president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the leader of Rome's bid for the 2020 Games, had revaled earlier this week that Japan's Ambassador to Italy had told him that they had decided not to continue with their campaign.

The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) have now claimed that they are still considering put forward a bid, which would be their second consecutive attempt to host the Games for the first time since 1964 having lost to Rio de Janeiro in the race for 2016.

"The JOC is considering the 2020 bid," Yashuiro Nakamori, the JOC's international relations director, told the Associated Press. 

"We [have] not changed our policy."

The JOC is due to hold a meeting to discuss the bid next Tuesday (March 29) but will not decide whether to put themselves forward until July after the IOC have voted on where to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, for which which Pyeongchang in South Korea are among the front runners.

"We [still) have a lot of things to do to make a decision, even though we have experience, some knowledge and planning through the 2016 bid activities," Nakamori said.

None of the facilities Tokyo hope to use in a potential bid for 2020 were damaged by the earthquake.

Tokyo has already had to give up the opportunity to host the World Figure Skating Championships, which were due to open on last Monday (March 21), because of the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami.

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