South Korea says ‘serious shortage’ of rooms with Asian Games days away

SEOUL – South Korea’s Olympic committee said on Sept 14 that there was “a serious shortage of accommodation” at the Asian Games starting in Japan this week, as officials from the Philippines resorted to Airbnb.

There is no dedicated athletes’ village at the event, with organisers instead relying on a cruise ship, temporary wooden containers and hotels in a bid to cut costs.

The Games are taking place in Nagoya and the wider Aichi area, with some events already under way ahead of the opening ceremony on Sept 19.

More than 17,000 athletes and officials are expected – a bigger number than the Olympics.

Local organisers were initially expecting 15,000 and argued in August that they had “neither the manpower nor the budget” to deal with ballooning numbers.

They later issued a joint statement with the Olympic Council of Asia saying that all athletes and officials registered before the July deadline would be “provided with Games-appropriate accommodation”.

But a Korean Sport & Olympic Committee official told AFP that their team had encountered problems.

“At the moment, there is a serious shortage of accommodation not only for the entire South Korean delegation to the Asian Games, but also for delegations from around the world in the Aichi-Nagoya area,” the official said.

“We are doing everything we can to resolve the issue and ensure there are no such problems.

“In any case, athletes will continue to enter and leave the country, so we will make the necessary arrangements accordingly to ensure everything proceeds without problems,” the official added.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino told AFP that all his country’s athletes had been given a bed. But “some officials, like coaches, were moved to different hotels and Airbnb”, he said.

Asian Games organisers did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

There is also concern about the quality of the accommodation, especially the shipping container-style huts that are set to be home to 2,000 athletes and officials.

Byeon Jun-hyeong, a basketball player from South Korea, posted a video on social media showing a leaking sink and soaked floor in his hut, with the caption: “Please help us.”

Organisers have hired the Italian cruise ship Costa Serena for the event and it is due to arrive in Nagoya on Sept 15.

Between 4,000 and 5,000 athletes will stay on the ship. The rest will be in hotels, including in Tokyo, where swimming, diving and equestrian events will take place.

Hundreds of athletes were briefly evacuated from their accommodation as record rainfall lashed Nagoya last week.

Athletes staying at the city’s Garden Pier area, where the wooden container huts are located, were told to move to safety. The athletes returned after the evacuation order was lifted about two hours later.

More rain has been forecast for Nagoya in the coming days. AFP