Games organizers apologize for issues

CONFUSION, DISORDER: Late-coming entrants and insufficient logistics have given this year’s Games a shoddy execution, the organizing committee’s head said

• Staff writer, with AFP and Rueters

• • Add TT as Preferred Source

  • 

  • 

  • 

The chief organizer of the Asian Games apologized yesterday for the logistical headaches plaguing the event, saying a late influx of athletes and officials had made it difficult to run smoothly.

The number of participants at the continental showpiece ballooned to 17,000 following a flurry of late entries — about 2,000 more than the organizing committee had initially projected.

The unexpected surge strained accommodation and transport networks, prompting complaints from athletes and team officials over cramped rooms, small beds and travel delays.

Taiwan’s Wang Chen-yu competes in the shot put section on the first day of the decathalon at the Asian Games in Nagoya yesterday. The decathalon finishes today.

Photo: AP

“There have been mistakes in accommodation and transport, for various reasons,” AINAGOC secretary-general Satoshi Murate told a press conference. “Whatever the cause, AINAGOC is responsible for providing the service, and I frankly apologise for the mistakes.

“Our staff work every day to identify the causes of each mistake and make sure they don’t happen again,” he added. “I think you can see that accommodation and transport have improved greatly compared with the early days.”

Murate added that maintaining consistent service standards had proved challenging following the “significant” increase in delegation sizes.

“Our top priority is making sure the athletes can compete at their best. We are fully committed to making the necessary improvements to ensure that they can do so,” he said. “We are already working on a number of improvements, and in the second half of the Games, we want to make sure those efforts produce results and that we can manage things more smoothly and effectively.”

Mongolian women’s basketball coach Javier Garcia Alvarez criticized the transport system after a training session had to be canceled when the team bus failed to arrive.

“I played in many FIBA Asia basketball cups and even Asian Games in Incheon some years ago. I never had this kind of issue that the bus is not coming for practice,” he said. “It was kind of disappointing because we were planning some practice, some shooting for the girls and the mind was prepared for that, and then at the end we had to cancel.”

Filipino squash player Yvonne Alyssa Dalida had to endure a lengthy wait before checking into her room aboard a chartered cruise ship, although she saw a silver lining in the unconventional setup.

“I think Japan or AINAGOC could have prepared better for this event, but I find it cool as well because it’s very unique,” she said. “I’ve never been on a cruise, so I think that’s also the upside of them using this.”

EMPTY SEATS

Organizers admitted they were “not satisfied” with ticket sales after swathes of empty seats were seen at the main stadium and other venues in Japan.

The 100m sprints are one of the highlights of any Games, but the 30,000-person capacity Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium appeared to be only about one-quarter full on Friday night for the blue-riband events.

Even the prospect of a women’s pole vault gold for Japan’s Misaki Morota could not pull in local supporters in large numbers at the start of the weekend.

This year’s Games organizers said that less than 60 percent of tickets had been bought up for eight sports, including football, with a similar amount unsold for the closing ceremony in eight days’ time.

“We are not satisfied,” Murate said. “We will keep aiming for full stadiums, keep selling tickets and work to make sure people who have secured seats actually come.”

He said more than 90 percent of tickets were sold for the opening ceremony a week ago, but blamed no-shows for large sections of empty seats greeting the parading athletes and lighting of the Games torch.

“Overall I think sales are strong,” he said. “But it has been pointed out that there are noticeable empty seats at some competitions.”

“There are several reasons,” he said. “First, some sessions include several matches in one day. Everyone focuses on the headline match.”

He said tickets that had been given away to Games stakeholders, such as sponsors, were not always used. “Seats have been allocated but some people can’t come. As a result, some competitions do have noticeable empty seats, and we find that regrettable.”