For one thing, I can vouch for the place's unpretentious, can-do, practical appeal; for another, it reminded me of one of my more surreal nights as a sports reporter.

It was the World Cup summer of 2002 and I had been posted to Sapporo to watch out for what the Japanese media were then calling "fooligans" before the needle clash between England and Argentina to be staged in the city’s futuristic indoor football stadium.

But there were no fooligans: the high cost of following Sven-Göran Eriksson's gifted but ultimately unfulfilled England team to the Far East had priced them out of the market.

The sort of England fans I tracked down were International Herald Tribune readers whiling away the days before the big match playing keepie-uppies in Odori Park with schoolgirls in long white socks.

One storekeeper in the Tanukikoji shopping arcade reported a run on her stock of old Japanese porcelain and incense-burners. Her image of foreign fans, she said, had "completely changed".

When I went to the local police department, a spokesman did disclose that three England fans had been arrested; but this was for allegedly using counterfeit $50 bills.

During my wanderings I had stumbled upon a cavernous two-storey concrete structure moulded into the shape of a huge Pharoah's head.

This turned out to be the King Xmhu nightclub, and given that there was not much of a story in polite graphic designers from Lichfield buying porcelain bowl mementoes, I decided this might be an interesting place to watch Japan make their 2002 World Cup debut against Belgium.

I was not wrong: inside, several hundred local fans cheered every twist and turn of an eventful 2-2 draw in a sinister décor dominated by snakes' heads, skulls and immense eagles.

The big screen to which everyone was glued was suspended under a devilish visage with empty square eyes and curved Dracula teeth.

The noise in the enclosed space was indescribable; I felt like I had become part of some ghoulish video game.

As an ambiance in which to watch a match, I hardly think it would have passed muster with designers of the official fan-zones that are now part and parcel of these events.

Nonetheless, as the final whistle blew, I had to admit that, as one blue-shirted Japan fan put it, I was "big happy".

Reverting to Sheikh Ahmad’s comments, you would have to think that staging a third consecutive Winter Olympics in Asia would be something of a last resort for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), notwithstanding Sapporo's quirky charms.

But, to get technical for just one second, beggars can't be choosers.

While the likes of Calgary, Innsbruck, Stockholm and Sion might all be viewed as possible bidders at the moment, in the current climate it would be far from astonishing if all four somehow fell by the wayside once the 2026 process officially opens in the wake of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games.

In some ways though, it strikes me that 2030 might suit the current host of the Asian Winter Games better.

I know it is asking for trouble mentioning big infrastructure projects in the same breath as the Olympics these days, but 2030 is the year - according to the www.japan-rail-pass.co.uk website - when the shinkansen bullet train that is the symbol par excellence of modern Japan is currently expected to reach Sapporo, which is located on the Ireland-sized northern island of Hokkaido.

If the Japanese city does decide to run in 2026 or 2030 and the level of competition means it needs to pull out all the stops, its 2002 experience, as well as the present Games and its status as a past Winter Olympic host from 1972, might stand it in good stead.

As those porcelain-buying, keepie-uppie playing, International Herald Tribune-reading England fans of yore will well remember, that match in the Sapporo Dome ended with England avenging their 1998 World Cup defeat with a 1-0 victory.

The scorer? One David Beckham with what must have been one of the most redemptive penalty-kicks of his distinguished career.

Given such happy memories, I wonder whether he would consider being pressed into service as a Sapporo bid supporter.