Asian Games chiefs say room for everyone amid accommodation crunch

The organising committee of the upcoming Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, has announced that late entrants to the event will need to find their own accommodation, as they lack both the financial resources and the space to accommodate additional participants. Initially, organizers estimated around 15,000 athletes and officials would attend, with the Games scheduled from September 19 to October 4.

However, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) recently revised the expected attendance to 17,000, comprising 11,000 athletes and 6,000 officials.

The Asian Games organizers are currently utilizing a cruise ship, temporary wooden containers, and hotels to house participants, lacking a dedicated athletes' village. Hideaki Omura, president of the organising committee and governor of Aichi Prefecture, stated that they neither have the manpower nor the budget to accommodate extra participants, with a pre-set limit of 15,000 delegates.

Temporary accommodations, such as the Italian cruise ship Costa Serena for 4,000 to 5,000 athletes and shipping container-style huts for 2,000 athletes and officials, have been arranged to minimize costs. The remaining participants will stay in various hotels, including those in Tokyo for events like swimming, diving, and equestrian sports.

Reports suggest that the local organising committee has requested the OCA to lower the participant numbers. If athletes still wish to participate, they must arrange their own accommodations. Nagoya Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa, acting chairman of the organising committee, acknowledged the difficulty in accommodating such a large number of people, both in terms of time and physical capacity, emphasizing that the committee is operating on a tight budget.