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Sports officials from South Korea have issued a scathing critique of the accommodation provided for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, describing the living quarters as the worst in the event’s history. The delegation warned that a critical deficit of rooms across the host region is threatening to overshadow the lead-up to the continental multi-sport competition.
The Asian Games, centered in the city of Nagoya within Japan's Aichi prefecture, are scheduled to stage their official opening ceremony on Saturday. However, preliminary competitions in sports such as football and basketball are already in progress, bringing international competitors face-to-face with logistical shortfalls well before the formal festivities commence.
In an effort to keep operational costs under control, local organizers opted against building a standard, centralized athletes' village. Instead, organizers chose a fragmented approach that distributes participants across a docked cruise ship, temporary wooden cabins resembling shipping containers, and dispersed regional hotels.
The makeshift arrangements have drawn immediate backlash from visiting delegations, particularly from South Korea's men's basketball squad. Jung Jae-yong, vice president of the Korea Basketball Association, expressed profound frustration over the container-style huts assigned to his team, noting that the physical dimensions of the rooms are completely unsuitable for elite competitors.
Jung stated that, based on his career experience, the lodging setup is the worst he has ever witnessed at a major event. He emphasized that athletes measuring over two meters in height are unable to stretch out their legs on the provided beds, calling the living conditions unreasonable for competitors preparing for high-stakes international play.
Concerns regarding the temporary huts extend beyond tight space to include fundamental infrastructure problems. South Korean basketball player Byeon Jun-hyeong recently published video footage on social media showcasing a leaking sink and water accumulating across the floor of his cabin, accompanying the clip with a direct appeal for help.
Approximately 2,000 competitors and team officials are expected to be housed in these wooden units throughout the more than two weeks of competition. The anticipation of substandard quarters was significant enough that sports officials from India took the preemptive step of constructing replica huts back home, attempting to acclimatize their athletes to the cramped quarters ahead of their arrival in Japan.
The South Korean basketball leadership has also criticized Japanese organizers for failing to provide adequate communication or remedial action regarding the complaints. Jung noted that tournament organizers have remained largely silent despite mounting grievances, prompting extensive discussions between team leaders and the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee to determine potential solutions.
An official from the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee confirmed that housing deficits are not limited to one sport, describing a severe and widespread shortage of rooms affecting the entire South Korean delegation and multiple foreign teams across the Aichi-Nagoya metropolitan area. Committee representatives noted they are working continuously to mitigate the situation and secure necessary living space.
Other participating nations have had to implement their own alternative strategies to cope with the lack of capacity. Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino stated that while all Filipino athletes had secured rooms, the delegation was forced to relocate supporting team personnel, including coaches, into separate regional hotels and privately booked Airbnb properties.
The accommodation crisis comes as more than 17,000 athletes and team officials arrive in Japan, creating a logistical footprint larger than that of the Summer Olympic Games. Organizers had originally planned for an intake of roughly 15,000 participants and acknowledged last month that they lacked both the financial resources and the staffing capacity to handle the surge in arrivals.
Although the Olympic Council of Asia subsequently offered assurances that every participant would be provided with a place to stay, skepticism has persisted among teams. High-profile athletes, including star cricket players, had previously voiced apprehension regarding whether sufficient numbers of high-grade hotel rooms would be available during the tournament.
To address the large deficit in land-based rooms, organizers chartered the Italian cruise vessel Costa Serena, which is scheduled to dock in Nagoya on Tuesday. The ship is slated to serve as a floating hotel accommodating between 4,000 and 5,000 competitors during the competition period.
The remainder of the visiting delegations will be spread across traditional hotels, with a portion stationed as far away as Tokyo to accommodate events such as swimming, diving, and equestrian competitions. This geographic dispersion has added further complexity to transport and team management operations across the tournament.
Compounding the logistical difficulties, severe weather has already impacted the temporary lodging sites. Record-breaking rainfall in Nagoya previously forced the brief evacuation of hundreds of athletes from their quarters, and with additional rain forecast for the coming days, delegations remain on high alert over the durability of the temporary infrastructure.
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