"Why is this happening to Korean football?" Yesterday they went to the wrong baseball stadium; today, no bus came... AG suffers absurd mishaps on consecutive days

*This content was translated by AI.

"Why is this happening to Korean football."

The South Korean men's U-23 national football team participating in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games endured absurd incidents on two consecutive days due to the tournament organizing committee's inadequate vehicle operations.

Japanese media RBB Today reported on the 15th (Korean time) that "South Korean players were forced to smile bitterly," adding that "a bus carrying football team players for this Asian Games mistakenly headed toward a 'baseball stadium'."

The South Korean U-23 national team, led by Coach Lee Min-seong, defeated Qatar 4-1 in the first match of Group D of the men's football tournament held at Mizuho Rugby Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, at 7:30 p.m. that day.

While the match result was perfect, the journey to the stadium was not smooth.

According to the Korea Football Association, the South Korean and Qatar delegations departed from their respective accommodations at 5:20 p.m., two hours and 10 minutes before kickoff, in accordance with the time set by the tournament organizing committee.

However, an absurd incident occurred where the bus assigned to the delegation by the organizing committee headed toward a nearby baseball stadium instead of the actual venue, Mizuho Rugby Stadium.

Mizuho Park is home to multiple sports facilities, including a rugby stadium. Nevertheless, a bus carrying players scheduled to play a football match ended up heading to a baseball stadium. In fact, this baseball stadium did not even host any Asian Games baseball matches.

After confirming they had arrived at the wrong location, the team turned back toward Mizuho Rugby Stadium.

However, the South Korean delegation arrived at the stadium about 30 minutes later than originally scheduled, at 6:25 p.m. The Qatar delegation faced the same issue.

The media explained, "An unexpected incident occurred before the match," noting that "the bus carrying players departed from their accommodations and headed toward a nearby 'baseball stadium' instead of the actual venue, Mizuho Rugby Stadium."

It further reported, "As a result, both South Korea and Qatar arrived at the stadium approximately 30 minutes later than scheduled."

However, just one day later on the 16th, another vehicle issue arose.

The next day after the match against Qatar, the South Korean national team waited to move to their training ground in preparation for recovery training, but the assigned vehicle never arrived.

Consequently, the national team had to urgently arrange alternative vehicles starting that morning. This caused delays in the schedule, including a late start to training.

In fact, this year's Asian Games has been plagued by continuous controversies surrounding operational issues outside of matches.

A prime example is the accommodation problem for delegations.

Earlier, South Korean Nam Ja-nong-gu (CEO) team member Byun Jun-hyeong posted on social media showing water leaking from a sink in his container-type temporary accommodation, soaking the floor, and wrote, "Please help."

No separate athlete village was prepared for this tournament. The organizing committee is accommodating players and officials by dispersing them across cruise ships, temporary wooden accommodations, hotels, and other facilities.

With more participants than expected, a shortage of accommodations also emerged.

According to Middle Eastern media Al Jazeera, while all Filipino players were assigned rooms, some officials such as coaches were dispersed to other hotels and the accommodation platform Airbnb due to the accommodation shortage.

Abraham Tolentino, chairman of the Philippine Olympic Committee, stated, "All Filipino players were assigned rooms," but also noted that "some officials, including coaches, were moved to other hotels."

The Vietnamese Yeo Ja-bae-gu (CEO) team also faced difficulties with transportation from the very first day they arrived in Japan.

Since there were no volunteers available to meet and accompany the delegation, the Vietnamese team waited at the airport for about an hour.

They then moved to their accommodations using vehicles provided by the organizing committee, but another vehicle issue occurred. The bus carrying players took them to a different hotel instead of the accommodation assigned to the Vietnamese national team.

After confirming they had arrived at the wrong hotel, the delegation had to carry all their luggage, including suitcases and team equipment, and walk approximately 5 to 10 minutes to reach the actual accommodations.

Vietnamese media Webtetao reported that "although the distance was short, it became a very difficult journey for players who had already traveled for a long time and had to carry all their luggage."

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*This content was translated by AI.