The race for the 2020 Summer Olympic bid will now have one less competitor. The city of Hiroshima formally gave up its bid to host the event because of opposition from its citizens ,and a lack of funds.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue, and officials from the other 15 municipalities dissolved the bid committee during a meeting in Hiroshima on Sunday.
Hiroshima’s former Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba announced a bid from Hiroshima in 2009, but, according to The Japan Times, the project did not gather steam and Matsui, who was elected mayor in April, has said he would withdraw the bid.
National Olympic Committees have until September 1 to submit the names of bid cities for the 2020 Summer Games.
