Officials raise concerns over accommodation shortages ahead of Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games
Container units built for athletes are seen around the port of Nagoya, Japan, Sept. 11. Yonhap
NAGOYA — Complaints about a shortage of accommodations for the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games have been growing just four days before the opening, a sports official said Tuesday.
As part of their cost-cutting and eco-friendly policies, organizers of the Asian Games did not build a dedicated athletes' village for this year's competition, instead providing accommodations on a cruise ship and in temporary container units, as well as hotels, for about 15,000 athletes and officials from 45 nations.
The quadrennial multisport event will officially open on Saturday, with some sports, such as football and basketball, already under way.
Under the accommodation plan, some 9,000 athletes will stay in hotels, while 4,000 will be housed on the cruise ship and 2,000 will stay in a complex of wooden container units.
However, athletes have complained of room shortages, particularly in the container village.
"For example, if the Games organizers had promised to offer 100 container rooms to a specific Olympic committee, they are short of some 20 rooms," said an official from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC).
South Korea plans to send 1,052 athletes and officials in 41 sports to the Asian Games.
Among them, athletes from five sports, including men's basketball, jujitsu and cycling, are assigned to stay in the container village, where each container can house up to six people.
Athletes in 18 sports, including archery, table tennis, judo and gymnastics, will stay on the 114,000-ton Costa Serena cruise ship, anchored in the port of Nagoya, Japan.
According to the KSOC, representatives of 45 nations have raised concerns about the issue with the Games organizers.
Amid the growing complaints, Games organizers are belatedly seeking additional hotel rooms for athletes, according to officials.
However, athletes in some sports have expressed satisfaction with their accommodations, as they are staying at hotels in Nagoya.
"Our hotel is very good. There is everything I need, so I don't have to go outside," Jung Ho-young of the women's volleyball team said during an official training session in Okazaki, just southeast of Nagoya, on Monday.