The Japanese city of Sapporo is lining up a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games – although it may cost as much as ¥456.5bn (£3bn, US$4.3bn, €3.8bn) to host the event.

Sapporo hosted the Winter Games in 1972, and it is thought that the city is preparing a bid with the facilities it used 44 years ago.

According to Bloomberg, the man charged with attracting the Games to the city, Tadakatsu Sato, said: “We will present the bid to the Japanese Olympic Committee after the summer when the Rio Olympics and Paralympic Games are over.

“We’ve made a plan. We are working to build a joint goal with the people of Sapporo and heighten awareness as we move to summer.”

Despite the existing facilities, the city predicts it will cost billions to make sure 90 per cent of the facilities are within half-hour of the Olympic Village.

At a national level, Japan has not yet decided if it will make a bid for the Games. Switzerland has thrown its hat into the ring to host the 2026 Olympics, and is in the process of finding a suitable host city.

The next two Winter Olympic Games will take place in Asia, in Pyeongchang, South Korea (2018) and Beijing, China (2022).