Sapporo 2030, between the surprise and the need not to be affected by the Tokyo scandal

Yasuhiro Yamashita, president of the Olympic Committee of Japan (JOC), said that the resolution of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the decision regarding which venues will continue in the race to organize the 2030 Winter Olympics was surprising.

Sapporo is one of the cities that intend to host the Olympic Games together with Salt Lake City (United States) and Vancouver (Canada), and a definition of which would enter the next phase of “directed dialogue” with the IOC was expected this month. However, the director for the Games, Christophe Dubi, said after the Executive Committee meeting last Tuesday that for the time being there will be no resolution.

This decision had an impact on Japan and in statements collected by the local agency Jiji, which reproduces the EFE agency, Yamashita acknowledged: “Frankly, I am surprised”; in addition, the president of the JOC stressed that Sapporo “has most of the facilities already built and usable with reforms”.

One of the aspects analyzed by the IOC is that the host city demonstrates “average minimum temperatures below zero degrees at the venues of the competitions, during the Games period and for 10 years”. It should be noted that the last Beijing 2022 Games, last February, were played on artificial snow.

“The preliminary results of outstanding academic research show a possible reduction in the number of climate-reliable hosts,” said the IOC, which is analyzing the possibility of a double award for 2030 and 2034 “in order to create stability for sports and the Winter Olympic Games.”

Katsuhiro Akimoto, mayor of Sapporo, also referred to this decision to postpone the definition of the host city of the 2030 Games and in statements collected by the NHK network he said that “we will continue to negotiate with the IOC on the agenda and concrete procedures.”

In addition to the issues discussed by the International Olympic Committee to choose the venue for the 2030 Olympic Games, Sapporo seeks not to be “punctuated” by the acts of corruption also investigated in Japan by the Tokyo 2020 organization. Yasuhiro Yamashita, head of the JOC, defined as “imaginations” the possibility that the candidacy will be affected.

In recent months, authorities in Japan have arrested several people as part of an investigation into alleged bribes related to the granting of sponsorships for the Tokyo 2020 Games. In August, businessman Haruyuki Takahashi, who was part of the organizing committee, was arrested after being accused of receiving money from a Japanese clothing brand (Aoki).

The Japanese prosecutor’s office is investigating whether Takahashi received money from the textile company through a consultancy owned by him, while authorities also arrested Hironori Aoki, former head of the clothing firm, and two other people.

The investigation also involves Dentsu, the largest advertising agency in Japan, of which Takahashi was manager in the past. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government targets a total of 26 tenders and analyzes the relationship between several companies and the detainee. The members of the organizing committee considered themselves public officials, so they were prohibited from receiving money or goods in connection with their duties. In this context, Sapporo 2030 tries to ensure that its candidacy is not affected.