Around 2,000 athletes face cramped, damp rooms as Nagoya’s Asian Games opens this weekend, raising fresh questions about the organisers’ ability to house an expanded field of competitors. Delegations have criticised wooden container huts intended as temporary housing and disaster shelters, saying beds are too short for very tall athletes and some units have leaked during heavy rain.
Jung Jae-yong, vice-president of the Korea Basketball Association, called the accommodation "the worst it has ever been," saying players over two metres cannot fully stretch on the beds. A member of South Korea’s basketball team shared a video showing a soaked floor and a leaking pipe, and some athletes were briefly evacuated from the containers when record rainfall hit Nagoya last week.
The criticism comes after organisers revised their accommodation plans. The Games now host more than 17,000 athletes and officials, above the 15,000 that planners had budgeted for. Temporary container units will house roughly 2,000 guests, while between 4,000 and 5,000 participants will sleep on an Italian cruise ship docked in Nagoya, and the remainder are in hotels.
Organising committee president and Aichi governor Hideaki Omura previously warned officials had set aside a budget for 15,000 people and said they had "neither the manpower nor the budget to make the necessary arrangements" for extra arrivals. Organisers and the Olympic Council of Asia later said all "17,000-plus" registered athletes and officials who met the July deadline had been provided with "Games-appropriate accommodation," and that final preparations were progressing smoothly.
Hosts say they are addressing complaints. Accommodation manager Yuta Matsuo told Reuters the organisers were "fully aware of the dissatisfaction and concerns voiced by the athlete delegations" and were "taking concrete steps to improve the environment for the athletes." Some national teams have taken their own measures: Indian authorities built replicas of the container huts so athletes could practice living in them, and several delegations have accommodated officials and coaches in different hotels or short-term rentals.
The Asian Games officially open on Saturday and will run until 4 October. With competition already under way in football and basketball, the housing dispute highlights the operational strain of using temporary facilities and the pressure organisers face to fix problems quickly while the tournament proceeds.
