'Put male and lion players in the same room' — Japanese Asian Games controversy: "Worst ever... an absurd situation"

*This content was translated by AI.

The criticism has reached the level of calling it "the worst in history." Just days before the opening of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the event has been rocked by scandals over dormitory conditions and the absurd assignment of mixed-gender accommodations.

According to a report by the Japanese edition of the UK's public broadcaster 'BBC' on the 17th, as the 20th Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games opens on the 19th, athletes from around the world are lodging in wooden container-style temporary dormitories housing thousands, sparking a surge of complaints from national delegations.

Even Jung Jae-yong, vice president of the Korean Basketball Association, harshly criticized the accommodation conditions for this tournament as "the worst ever" in an interview with 'AFP News'. The vice president pointed out, "Tall players over 2 meters tall cannot even stretch their legs on the beds. This is beyond common sense."

Not only was the space cramped, but facility management was also a mess. Byun Jun-hyeong of the Korean men's national basketball team photographed water leaking from pipes inside his room, turning the floor into a sea of water, and posted it on his personal SNS with the caption "Please help me." During last week's record-breaking heavy rains in Nagoya City, athletes staying in container dormitories were evacuated urgently, and some venues also reportedly had leaks.

Summarizing local Japanese reports, this crisis stems from the organizers' excessive budget cuts and insufficient preparation. The organizing committee prepared wooden container dormitories intended for reuse as disaster evacuation shelters instead of apartment-style athlete villages, but faced limits when the number of participants far exceeded the initial estimate of 15,000, reaching 17,000.

Aichi Governor Omura Hideaki faced criticism last month for stating, "The budget is only for 15,000 people. It's impossible to cover costs for excess participants, and there are no physical dormitories available. If they still come, they must solve it themselves." Although the organizing committee and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) later clarified that accommodations had been arranged, in the case of the Philippines, only athlete dormitories were barely secured, while coaches and executives ended up scattered across guesthouses and hotels, leading to chaos.

As an alternative to containers, a 4,000–5,000-person capacity Italian cruise ship docked at Nagoya Port also became a source of farce. According to Japanese media 'CBC', even within the host nation Japan's delegation, absurd room assignments occurred.

Mizutori Hisashi, deputy head of the Japanese delegation, announced on the 17th that some athletes had waited for hours due to errors in accommodation procedures. Particularly, among Japanese athletes scheduled to stay on the cruise ship, there were incidents where coaches and athletes were assigned to the same room, or male and female athletes were placed together in the same room. Upon learning of the situation, the Japanese delegation urgently rearranged rooms, and some sports organizations even secured private hotels outside the cruise ship as an emergency measure.

As the controversy erupted, the organizing committee's accommodation officer stated via 'Reuters' that improvement measures would be announced. However, with issues such as non-compliant bed specifications, leaks, and mixed-gender room assignments surfacing just before the opening, the Games could not avoid fierce criticism even before they began.

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*This content was translated by AI.