Transportation and Accommodation Chaos Sparks Outrage; South Korean Delegation Stranded at Airport for Hours

Mismanagement by the organizing committee for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games has led to a series of complaints from delegations of various countries experiencing inconveniences.

The main contingent of the South Korean national team faced disruptions in maintaining their athletic condition after being forced to wait for a prolonged period at the airport upon arrival yesterday (September 17).

An official from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee stated, "The delegation that arrived at Chubu Centrair International Airport in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, yesterday had to wait for at least three hours or more due to delayed shuttle bus allocations," adding, "Athletes from some sports were stranded at the airport for over five hours."

An official from the table tennis national team, who arrived yesterday, explained, "After waiting three hours at the airport and two hours at the welcome center, we barely managed to enter our accommodation on a cruise ship past 7:00 PM."

Another official remarked, "Athletes need to manage their condition well, so this is very disappointing," and added, "Athletes from other countries experienced similar problems and were very angry."

Some members of the South Korean rowing national team, exhausted from the wait, eventually paid out of their own pockets to take taxis to their destination.


Athletes from other nations went through similar situations.

Hong Kong English-language newspaper South China Morning Post reported that some Chinese athletes were stranded at Chubu Centrair International Airport for over seven hours yesterday.

The media outlet reported, "A long wait occurred due to a data entry error that caused problems during the system registration process," adding, "They particularly suffered hardships due to a lack of proper food."

Chinese gymnastics athletes struggled to prevent physical conditioning decline by spreading out mats at the airport to warm up.

Chinese gymnastics national team member Zhang Boheng expressed his frustration via social media, stating, "I was not able to eat anything for 12 hours."

The shortage of accommodations is also a serious issue.

Gulf News reported that some members of the Indian delegation were assigned accommodations after waiting a staggering 14 hours yesterday, with several athletes sleeping on the airport floor.

Varun Sanyal, an Indian mixed martial arts athlete, expressed absurdity via social media, stating, "It took 10 hours before I finally got into the cruise ship accommodation to get some sleep," and "About 30 minutes later, two athletes were staring at me with bewildered expressions. Three people were assigned to a room meant for two."

He said, "Not only me, but athletes from other countries such as Tajikistan and Sri Lanka faced similar problems."

Transportation and lodging issues are also being experienced by the host country Japan's delegation.

Japan's TBS reported, "An incident occurred during cruise ship accommodation assignments where Japanese male and female athletes were assigned to the same room," and "The delegation reassigned rooms and secured separate hotels for some sports."

(Photo: Capture from social media of Firoz Mirza, reporter for The New Indian Express, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.