The Japanese city, which held the 1972 edition, has expressed interest in being the host again and is believed to be the favourite.

"We have no such plans," said the city's Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto in a public briefing.

"So, there are no plans to hold a referendum on the Olympics and Paralympics."

It is said that the track record of Olympic referendums in Japan is negative with voters often opting against hosting the event.

A poll last year revealed that 60 per cent of people in the country did not want the Tokyo 2020 Games to take place.

However, Akimoto released the results of various surveys taken earlier in the month and claimed that between 52 and 65 per cent of responses were positive.

"We feel we were able to receive a certain amount of support for the bid," he said.

The 2030 Winter Olympics is set to be the first awarded under a new process, whereby the IOC's Future Host Commission engages in targeted dialogue with selected countries.

Several European cities were forced to drop their bids for the 2022 Winter Olympics following unsuccessful votes including Oslo, Munich, Kraków and Graubünden in Switzerland.

The Sapporo Organising Committee has budgeted between ¥200 billion (£1.3 million/$1.7 million/€1.5 million) and ¥220 billion (£1.4 million/$1.8 million/€1.7 million) for if it was selected to host the Games.

Akimoto claims that at least 92 per cent of venues Sapporo would use at the 2030 Games are existing, but there are concerns over costs of refurbishing facilities which were used in the 1972 event.

Sapporo is expected to face competition for the Games from several prospective hosts, including Vancouver, Salt Lake City and a Barcelona-Andorra-Pyrenees joint-bid.