South Korea has demanded a high-level apology and concrete action after experiencing accommodation, transport and protocol problems during the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games. Its chef de mission, Lee Sang-hyun, explained that the delegation had requested a meeting with senior organisers and called for a plan to prevent the incidents from happening again. “Rather than simply apologising, it is important that they present concrete measures and put them into practice,” he said. Lee believes the organisers have yet to explain how the shortcomings will be addressed and attributes some of them to efforts to reduce the cost of the event.
The organisers abandoned plans to build an Athletes’ Village and distributed more than 17,000 athletes and officials across hotels, temporary container units and the Costa Serena cruise ship. Initial planning anticipated approximately 15,000 participants, but increased registrations and the addition of new sports placed further pressure on the system. The Olympic Council of Asia -OCA- argued that building a village would have required a substantial investment in infrastructure that could be left without a purpose after the Games. International Olympic Committee -IOC- President Kirsty Coventry offered a different assessment from the critical delegations and said she was impressed after visiting the accommodation.
From container unit to hotel
The most visible case involved the South Korean men’s basketball team, initially housed in the container units at Garden Pier. Team officials complained that the beds were too short for players over two metres tall and that the units, designed for up to six occupants, offered very limited space. A leak during heavy rain also left the bathroom floor in one of the units covered with water. The delegation moved the team to a hotel after the quarter-finals and sought alternatives outside the official accommodation system. Lee said that intervention provided the players with better conditions during the decisive phase, which ended with them winning the gold medal.
Transport affected the same team again on 20 September. The bus assigned to take the players to a shootaround failed to arrive at the hotel and they were forced to cancel their training session before the final against Japan. A day later, several players posted images of themselves once again waiting in the street for the vehicle that was supposed to take them to the airport. The football team had already experienced three other incidents: head coach Lee Min-sung was left without transport for a press conference; the buses carrying South Korea and Qatar mistakenly went to a baseball ground, causing both teams to arrive at the stadium approximately 30 minutes late; and the following day, the vehicle assigned to a recovery session 40 kilometres from Nagoya also failed to appear. The federation secured an alternative and training began 20 minutes later than scheduled.
A problem shared by several delegations
The incidents have not been confined to the South Korean team. The bus carrying the Vietnam women’s volleyball team arrived one hour and 15 minutes late on 21 September, forcing its match against Indonesia to be delayed by 30 minutes. The players had to rush their warm-up and preparations. When they first arrived in Nagoya, another vehicle had dropped them at the wrong hotel, leaving them to walk to the correct accommodation with their luggage. Some Indian shooters have reported journeys of more than 70 kilometres and up to two hours along winding roads between their hotel and the competition venue. The dispersed model also requires India’s medical team to support a delegation spread across Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and Tokyo.
The host country has not been unaffected. Japan sought alternative accommodation after allocation errors resulted in some male and female athletes being assigned shared rooms on the cruise ship. India had to reserve additional rooms following its initial difficulties, while some participants waited for hours to complete accreditation or receive accommodation. Criticism has also extended beyond transport. North Korea’s national anthem was played instead of South Korea’s before the men’s hockey match against Bangladesh. Korean Sport & Olympic Committee -KSOC- President Ryu Seung-min demanded an investigation and guarantees against another mix-up. Two officials subsequently visited the delegation to apologise, but no anthem was played before the women’s handball match between South Korea and Hong Kong the following day.
From logistical failures to national symbols
The South Korean delegation had already submitted a formal complaint over the appearance of an actor dressed as Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the welcoming ceremony for the Costa Serena. The Japanese ruler ordered the invasions of Korea carried out between 1592 and 1598, making his inclusion appear insensitive at an international event. The organising committee responded that the ceremony was intended to present figures associated with the history and culture of Aichi and Nagoya, without endorsing any individual or conveying a historical message. South Korean media also reported that authorities at Chubu Centrair International Airport prevented members of the delegation from entering with a large national flag for security reasons. No further explanation was provided, and there is no record of a formal protest comparable to the previous complaints.
Games Deputy Secretary General Takaaki Omi acknowledged that the anthem mix-up was a serious mistake and apologised for situations in which the organisers had failed to respond with sufficient flexibility. However, he maintained that accommodation and transport had generally been operating properly and attributed the missing basketball team bus to human error. In a separate statement issued on 22 September, the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee -AINAGOC- said delays in boarding the cruise ship were mainly caused by incomplete documentation submitted by some delegations rather than missing information in its system. It also stated that the food criticised at the teqball venue had not been supplied by the committee and promised to listen to participants and introduce any necessary improvements.
Indian Olympic Association -IOA- President P. T. Usha has distinguished between the situation facing her delegation and the overall design of the Games. She said India’s initial accommodation problems had been resolved and the athletes were now comfortable, but rejected the idea that the Aichi-Nagoya model should become standard. Usha argued that an Athletes’ Village encourages interaction between countries and questioned the long distances separating the venues. Her assessment captures the wider discussion prompted by the complaints: replacing a permanent village can avoid construction costs and make use of temporary accommodation, but it also increases travel and makes transport a decisive part of Games operations. When a vehicle gets lost, arrives late or fails to appear, the incident no longer affects comfort alone; it also disrupts athletes’ preparation and the competition schedule itself.
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