Asian Games chief defends ‘functional’ rooms after backlash
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Aichi Prefecture Governor Hideaki Omura speaking during a ceremony marking the arrival of the Costa Serena cruise ship at the Port of Nagoya.
PHOTO: AFP
- Asian Games accommodation includes temporary huts, cruise ships, and hotels, with organisers working to address complaints about comfort and safety amid heavy rainfall.
- South Korean athletes criticised the container huts as inadequate, prompting organisers to improve conditions and prioritise athlete safety.
- Ticket sales are strong for major sports but slow for lesser-known ones like cricket; organisers hope the Games promote friendship despite regional tensions.
AI generated
NAGOYA – Accommodation for Asian Games athletes in Japan is “functional” and efforts are being made to deal with numerous complaints from disgruntled teams, a chief organiser told AFP.
More than 17,000 competitors and officials are expected at the continent’s biggest sporting spectacular, which opens in Nagoya on Sept 19.
In a bid to cut costs, organisers are housing athletes and officials in temporary accommodation ranging from a cruise liner and wooden containers to hotel rooms.
The plan has run into immediate problems, with South Korean officials branding the container huts the “worst ever” and saying the beds are too short.
An official from another team told AFP that he entered the facility, took one look at the arrangement and booked a hotel room instead.
Even the host Japan team were looking at alternative arrangements after cases in which male and female athletes were allocated shared rooms.
“Since the cruise ship village opened yesterday, athletes have been arriving and going through the entry procedures,” Japan's deputy chef de mission Hisashi Mizutori told a news conference on Sept 17.
“However, the process took a significant amount of time, and due to issues with activation of their credentials, we have received reports that some athletes were left waiting for several hours.
“There have been cases where coaches, team officials, and athletes have been assigned to the same room. There are also situations where room assignments were made purely based on the numbers, such as assigning five twin rooms for a group of five men and five women.
“While the numbers match on paper, practically it creates challenging situations such as men and women being assigned together, coaches being assigned with athletes, or trainers who need to accommodate a lot of medical equipment being assigned together.”
The local organising committee maintains that the accommodation issue arose because they were expecting 15,000 athletes and officials for the Games, only for numbers to increase as new sports were added.
In a joint statement with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) last week, the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games organising committee said numbers would be capped at 17,000 with all of those guaranteed a place to stay.
Mizutori said the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) had anticipated accommodation “challenges” and had secured hotel rooms in the city as a back-up.
“We heard that the accommodation allocations are extremely tight,” said the former Olympic champion gymnast, who also sits on the JOC Executive Board.
“We are currently working to coordinate and negotiate adjustments wherever possible. For cases where that proves too difficult, we are considering using the backup accommodations that Team Japan prepared in advance as alternatives
Several countries have also complained about a shortage of accommodation.
Speaking ahead of the opening ceremony, organising committee president Hideaki Omura said efforts are being made to ensure athletes are comfortable.
“If there are different opinions then we will respond to them appropriately,” said Omura, who also serves as governor of Aichi prefecture.
“At this point, while we are responding to individual opinions, we have been improving everything as issues arise and we will continue to respond that way.”
Cruise control
Omura said plans for the huts, which were built in 2026 and will house about 2,000 people, had been given a favourable assessment by a committee of former athletes, including Olympians.
“We explained everything to them and had them take a look around, and they said it looked functional and good,” he said.
About 4,000 athletes and officials will also stay on the Italian cruise ship Costa Serena, which arrived in Nagoya on Sept 15.
Cruise ships have been used previously as accommodation at international sports events but never on this scale.
The Asian Games are taking place at a time when typhoons are common in Japan, and Nagoya has experienced heavy rainfall in recent weeks.
Omura said the priority was to keep athletes and officials on board safe.
“We believe we can provide accommodation that guarantees athletes’ safety and allows them to deliver their best performance,” he said.
Slow sales
Athletes from 45 countries and territories will compete in more than 40 sports across over two weeks.
Omura said ticket sales were going “fairly well”, especially for the marquee events.
But he admitted that lesser-known sports had yet to capture the Japanese public’s imagination.
That includes cricket, which is practically unknown in Japan.
“India have a superstar cricket squad coming and Indian residents in Japan are saying, ‘I can’t believe we get to watch matches like this’, but ticket sales haven’t been very strong,” said Omura.
“A lot of people in Japan have never seen cricket, so I really hope they take this chance and go and watch.”
Events at the Games including basketball and football have been under way since last week.
Omura said he was in attendance as the first action began when Qatar took on Iran in men’s basketball.
After watching a physical contest, Omura said he hoped the Games would help Asia “reaffirm its bonds of friendship through sport”.
“Iran and Qatar are in a situation where missiles are flying back and forth but they can still play basketball together,” he said.
“Without the Asian Games you couldn’t have a game like that.” AFP, REUTERS