{
  "id": 8218458,
  "title": "Top Olympic official wants even bigger Asian Games",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/top-olympic-official-wants-even-bigger-asian-games",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-18T09:37:12.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/other-sports/top-olympic-official-wants-even-bigger-asian-games/articleshow/134331273.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Husain Al-Musallam, the director general of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), expressed his desire for larger Asian Games, including the inclusion of an athletes' village, during the recent Asian Games in Japan. The Games, which took place from Saturday onwards, faced numerous challenges, such as a shortage of accommodation for over 17,000 athletes and officials, who were housed in hotels, temporary wooden huts, and a cruise ship to cut costs.\n\nAl-Musallam acknowledged the need for a financially sustainable event and stressed the importance of listening to the host's perspective for the future of the Games. The lack of an athletes' village led to complaints from some teams about the quality of accommodation, with beds being too short. Despite this, Al-Musallam remains committed to increasing the number of participants in future Asian Games, emphasizing the need for sport in the current political crisis and conflicts worldwide.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "Husain Al-Musallam, OCA director general, wants larger Asian Games.",
    "2018 Asian Games faced accommodation shortage for 17,000+ athletes.",
    "Athletes complained about quality of temporary accommodations."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}