South Korea's Basketball Victory Draws Criticism in Japan Over Poor Tournament Operations

While the South Korean men's national basketball team recaptured the Asian championship for the first time in 12 years, reactions siding with the South Korean team have emerged one after another within Japan as well.

Criticism followed regarding issues such as the South Korean team's morning practice right before the final being canceled due to a "bus dispatch problem," as well as a flood of referee calls favoring the home team.

Immediately after the match ended, on Yahoo Sports, one of Japan's sports communities, a netizen wrote, "Broadcasting the North Korean anthem and failing to prepare a bus to go to practice ahead of the final were rude acts toward South Korea," adding, "That is why we lost the game, and it cannot be helped."

This comment received the most "likes" on Yahoo Sports.

Even comments saying they were glad Japan lost received a flood of "agreements."

One netizen wrote self-deprecatingly, "I was glad Japan lost," adding, "It is surprising that lodging conditions criticized as the worst in history occurred, along with making people stay at the airport for six hours and serving meals that forced dieting."

Another netizen reacted, saying, "It feels like 'Japanese quality,' which Japanese people took pride in and foreigners trusted, is collapsing."

The South Korean national team placed the gold medal around their necks yesterday evening by decisively defeating the Japanese national team, which had the backing of "home advantage," in the final.

During the process, the poor operations by the host country, Japan, became an issue.

On the morning of yesterday, the day of the final, the bus heading to the practice facility did not show up without any explanation, forcing the scheduled practice to be canceled.

Even after the match ended, the bus did not arrive, forcing exhausted players to wait.

In addition to this, to cut costs, no separate athletes' village was built, and prefabricated containers and a large cruise ship were used instead. Complaints arose that basketball players over 2 meters tall could not properly stretch their legs on the beds, and national team player Byun Jun-hyung revealed on social media that the floor was soaked with water due to a leaking sink.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Seo Byeong-wook | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.