▲ Head Coach Lee Min-sung of the South Korean men's U-23 national football team for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games instructs players during a training session at the Toyota Sports Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 14th.
As operational flaws surface across various sites of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the South Korean under-23 (U-23) men's football team faced an absurd situation right before their opening match.
An official from the national team shared today (the 15th), "The bus driver heading to the stadium did not properly know the location and went to a nearby baseball stadium instead, causing both the South Korean and Qatari teams to arrive about 30 minutes later than scheduled."
The U-23 football team, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, is scheduled to play their first Group D match of the Asian Games group stage against Qatar at 7:30 PM today at the Mizuho Park Rugby Stadium in Nagoya, Japan.
Mizuho Park houses multiple sports facilities, including the stadium where the Asian Games opening ceremony will be held on the 19th. However, the vehicle carrying the team went to the baseball field instead of the rugby stadium where the football match is actually taking place.
No Asian Games matches are even held at the baseball field within Mizuho Park.
Baseball games are being held in other cities within Aichi Prefecture, not in Nagoya.
Because the rugby stadium and the baseball field are not far apart, it did not lead to serious problems such as a delayed match. However, it was regrettable for the team to have to fret over transportation issues in the pouring rain at a time when they should have been focusing on match preparation.
An official from the national team could not hide their bewilderment, stating, "This is something that is hard to imagine happening at an international competition."
The previous day, a vehicle assigned to transport head coach Lee Min-sung and team officials to a press conference failed to show up at their accommodation, leading to a somewhat delayed arrival past the scheduled start time.
In addition, at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya where the men's basketball match took place the day before yesterday, media shuttles heading to Nagoya Station were announced to operate, but only buses bound for the Main Media Center (MMC)—which had not even been announced—were deployed. Transportation problems continue to plague the event even before its official opening.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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