Sunderland City Council revealed the aspiration to host the Games when they unveiled their "City Plan" blueprint for the next 11 years in March.

Now, Jon Beaney, the Council's associate lead for organisational strategy, admitted they had been overly ambitious in their hopes to bring such a major sporting event to Sunderland.

The "City Plan" proposal was presented to Sunderland City Council earlier this year, but at a recent meeting of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee, mentions of hosting the 2030 Games were no longer present.

"Particularly in later years the content of the plan is likely to change, it's aspirational in some areas but less so in others," said Beaney.

"Looking at the time scales for the Commonwealth Games, we're now more into the 2030s or 2040s - I think we would have had to apply two or three years ago to get it by 2030."

Sunderland has never previously hosted a major multi-sport Games, while the Commonwealth Games will be held in England in 2022 after Birmingham stepped in to replace Durban as host.

Sunderland has invested in high-level sporting facilities in recent years, including the £20 million ($25 million/€22.5 million) Sunderland Aquatic Centre, with a 50metre Olympic sized pool and six diving boards.

Last year, Sunderland boxers Pat and Luke McCormack won respective gold and bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games held on Australia’s Gold Coast.