South Korea's under-23 men's national football team, competing in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, is facing successive hardships due to the organizing committee's poor tournament management.

Having defeated Qatar 4-1 in their opening Group D match yesterday, the South Korean national team was scheduled to hold a recovery training session today on the 16th, but faced disruptions after the vehicle scheduled to transport them to the training ground was not dispatched at all.

Consequently, the team broke a sweat trying to secure alternative transportation urgently since morning, and the national team, which initially aimed to begin training at 10:30 AM, barely managed to arrive at the site at 10:50 AM.

This is not the first time the South Korean national team has suffered due to sloppy transportation support.

On the 15th, the day of the match against Qatar, an absurd incident occurred when the driver of the bus heading to the stadium did not know the correct destination and drove to a wrong baseball field.

Although they were supposed to go to the rugby stadium hosting football matches within Mizuho Park, the driver headed to a nearby baseball field with the squad on board, causing the national team to arrive at the stadium 30 minutes later than scheduled.

Mizuho Park is a complex gathering several sports facilities, including the main stadium where the opening ceremony of this Asian Games is held.

However, no Asian Games matches are held at all at the baseball field where the national team's bus headed.

The baseball events for this tournament are held in another city within Aichi Prefecture, not in Nagoya City.

Previously on the 14th as well, head coach Lee Min-sung and national team officials waited to attend an official press conference, but the assigned vehicle failed to arrive at their accommodation, leading to a late arrival at the event.

An official from the Korea Football Association stated that minor issues regarding vehicle dispatch and operation continue to arise consistently during transportation to every training session and official event throughout the tournament, adding that this is a common situation experienced not only by them but by all teams currently participating in the competition.

(Photo: Yonhap News)