Sports News
Asian Games open in Nagoya after complaints about cabins, a cruise ship and too few beds
The Asian Games opened in Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday with a colourful ceremony after a build-up dominated by complaints about accommodation and transport, Al Jazeera reported, citing AFP and Reuters. To cut costs, organisers replaced the usual athletes' village with hotel rooms, temporary wooden cabins and a cruise ship for some 17,000 athletes and officials. Japan won the first gold on Sunday through Takumi Hojo in the men's triathlon.
The ceremony itself raised questions. There were thousands of empty seats in the 30,000-capacity stadium, partly because of typhoon warnings. The Olympic Council of Asia said 70 percent of tickets had been sold, while an announcement in the stadium said it was sold out. India's cricket board moved its men's team to a separate hotel, and 2,000 families in Nagoya offered to house Indian athletes. Taiwan's delegation briefly refused to attend its welcome ceremony after its sports minister was blocked from it.
A week earlier, the Korea Times had carried South Korea's complaints. Jung Jae-yong, vice president of the Korea Basketball Association, said the cabin beds were too short for players over two metres tall, and player Byeon Jun-hyeong posted a video of a leaking sink captioned “Please help us.” Organisers had first planned for 15,000 people.
“Based on my experience this is the worst it has ever been.” — Jung Jae-yong, via Korea Times
How each outlet framed it
- Al Jazeera — the ceremony as relief after a rocky build-up, with problems for several nations.
- Korea Times — the Korean team's cramped cabins and a wider shortage of rooms.
What we don't know yet: whether the weather adds to the trouble. After record rain flooded parts of Nagoya, a typhoon was approaching eastern Japan.