By Kwon Ji-youn, Woo Hae-chung
INCHEON ― The organizing committee of the Incheon Asian Games seems overwhelmed by reports and complaints about poor preparations and amateurish management.
Korean and foreign media, along with various delegation officials, heaped criticisms on the quadrennial Games. The organizers talked to the press Friday but still failed to convince them that the remainder of the games will be conducted with fewer hitches.
"I do acknowledge the need for improvement and that we apologize," said Kwon Kyung-sang, secretary general of the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee.
"But the media's criticism that the international sporting event had degenerated into a school sports day is very insulting," Kwon added.
Still, a long list of reporters' complaints remain unheeded, making his remarks sound more like an emotional outburst than rational explanation.
At the top of the list is the easy task of lifting a ban on newspapers in the Main Press Center.
The organizers insist that publications other than the official paper, "The Asiad Daily," are not allowed.
The problem is the eight-page tabloid is 90 percent about South Korean news and just 10 percent about other country's news.
The New China News Agency raised issues over its composition.
More importantly, managing of the games smacked of amateurism.
The Qatar women's basketball team's forfeit of a match Wednesday caused a commotion when the Qatari athletes pulled out of the competition after being asked to remove their hijabs in accordance with Article 4.2.2 of the International Basketball Federation rules.
The rules state that players cannot wear headgear, hair accessories and jewelry.
Criticism has mounted over the fact that this rule could be understood as discriminatory against Muslim women, especially at a sporting event that is being held under the theme "Diversity Shines Here."
But the fact that the Qatar delegation had not been informed of this regulation ahead of the Asiad has added fuel to fire. One media outlet reported that the IAGOC had told them that hijabs would be permitted in Incheon.
"The decision to disallow hijabs was made by a technical director of FIBA Asia, the Asian governing body for basketball," said an IAGOC official. "The rules at the Asian Games have always been governed by the respective federations, so we assumed that they would know."
Then, the Japanese football team's training venue did not have a locker room, so athletes were unable to shower after training.
This led a Japanese official to call Korea a "developing" country, a reference obviously loaded with national antagonism.
"I did hear that the training venue lacks a locker room," said Yasuhiro Nakamori, a spokesman for the Japanese delegation to the Incheon Asian Games. "We are used to it, though, because most training venues at developing countries are like this."
It was reported by Sankei, a Japanese conservative newspaper, which also reported earlier that the team had to walk up 17 floors because an elevator was not working.
South Korean badminton star Lee Yong-dae said that the air-conditioning was extreme at the Gyeyang Gymnasium, which Chinese players said caused the shuttlecock to blow off course in more than one instance.
Tubagus Ade Lukman, chief of the Indonesian delegation, where the next Asian Games are set to take place, also said that the Incheon Games did not meet expectations.
"As someone who attended both the Doha and Guangzhou Games, I would say that both were better than this year's Asiad," he told local media. "Transportation was especially second-rate."
INCHEON ― The organizing committee of the Incheon Asian Games seems overwhelmed by reports and complaints about poor preparations and amateurish management.
Korean and foreign media, along with various delegation officials, heaped criticisms on the quadrennial Games. The organizers talked to the press Friday but still failed to convince them that the remainder of the games will be conducted with fewer hitches.
"I do acknowledge the need for improvement and that we apologize," said Kwon Kyung-sang, secretary general of the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee.
"But the media's criticism that the international sporting event had degenerated into a school sports day is very insulting," Kwon added.
Still, a long list of reporters' complaints remain unheeded, making his remarks sound more like an emotional outburst than rational explanation.
At the top of the list is the easy task of lifting a ban on newspapers in the Main Press Center.
The organizers insist that publications other than the official paper, "The Asiad Daily," are not allowed.
The problem is the eight-page tabloid is 90 percent about South Korean news and just 10 percent about other country's news.
The New China News Agency raised issues over its composition.
More importantly, managing of the games smacked of amateurism.
The Qatar women's basketball team's forfeit of a match Wednesday caused a commotion when the Qatari athletes pulled out of the competition after being asked to remove their hijabs in accordance with Article 4.2.2 of the International Basketball Federation rules.
The rules state that players cannot wear headgear, hair accessories and jewelry.
Criticism has mounted over the fact that this rule could be understood as discriminatory against Muslim women, especially at a sporting event that is being held under the theme "Diversity Shines Here."
But the fact that the Qatar delegation had not been informed of this regulation ahead of the Asiad has added fuel to fire. One media outlet reported that the IAGOC had told them that hijabs would be permitted in Incheon.
"The decision to disallow hijabs was made by a technical director of FIBA Asia, the Asian governing body for basketball," said an IAGOC official. "The rules at the Asian Games have always been governed by the respective federations, so we assumed that they would know."
Then, the Japanese football team's training venue did not have a locker room, so athletes were unable to shower after training.
This led a Japanese official to call Korea a "developing" country, a reference obviously loaded with national antagonism.
"I did hear that the training venue lacks a locker room," said Yasuhiro Nakamori, a spokesman for the Japanese delegation to the Incheon Asian Games. "We are used to it, though, because most training venues at developing countries are like this."
It was reported by Sankei, a Japanese conservative newspaper, which also reported earlier that the team had to walk up 17 floors because an elevator was not working.
South Korean badminton star Lee Yong-dae said that the air-conditioning was extreme at the Gyeyang Gymnasium, which Chinese players said caused the shuttlecock to blow off course in more than one instance.
Tubagus Ade Lukman, chief of the Indonesian delegation, where the next Asian Games are set to take place, also said that the Incheon Games did not meet expectations.
"As someone who attended both the Doha and Guangzhou Games, I would say that both were better than this year's Asiad," he told local media. "Transportation was especially second-rate."
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