Japan's Sapporo and the Japanese Olympic Committee have officially abandoned their bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in the city in Hokkaido Prefecture, northern Japan.

Sapporo's mayor, Akimoto Katsuhiro, and Japanese Olympic Committee President Yamashita Yasuhiro announced the decision during a news conference on Wednesday.

Yamashita revealed that the committee and the city agreed to terminate bidding activities for the 2030 Games after considering the current situation. They will instead discuss the possibility of hosting the Games in 2034 or later.

Yamashita said he proposed the change to the mayor earlier this month, citing the influence of corruption and bid-rigging scandals linked to the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021.

He mentioned that efforts to ensure transparency and fairness in the bidding process failed to gain widespread support among Sapporo and Hokkaido residents.

Yamashita said another reason for the withdrawal is that the International Olympic Committee may name a single preferred city for the 2030 Games as early as this year.

Sapporo was one of the three cities that made an initial bid for the Games along with Salt Lake City in the US and Canada's Vancouver. They have all hosted the Winter Games in the past.

Sapporo was earlier regarded as the favorite due to issues faced by the two other cities.

Vancouver failed to gain the provincial government's support due to budget constraints. Salt Lake City is expected to face staff shortages and financial difficulties after the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. But Sapporo also lost momentum because of the Tokyo Summer Games scandals.

Sweden and France submitted their bids for the 2030 Games this year. The IOC revealed that at least six locations were on the list for consideration, including Switzerland, which has not yet specified the year it is bidding for.

Global warming and snow shortages have presented difficulties for the Winter Games in recent years, with fewer locations having stable weather conditions.

Research conducted primarily by the University of Waterloo in Canada and published in January 2022 analyzed the impact of climate change on the Winter Games.

The study said that by the end of this century, Sapporo will be the only city capable of providing a reliable environment for these competitions among those that have previously hosted the Winter Olympics, unless global greenhouse gas emissions are dramatically cut.

The IOC is considering a plan to choose a group of fixed candidate cities with stable weather conditions to take turns hosting the Winter Games. In such a scenario, Sapporo would be an important candidate.