Malaysia’s NSC covers cost of additional rooms at Asian Games official hotel

PETALING JAYA – Malaysian athletes are already arriving in batches for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games about to start this weekend, but it is anybody’s guess whether there are enough beds for them.

Five karate exponents have yet to be allocated accommodation although they are scheduled to arrive in Nagoya on Sept 17, leaving the National Sports Council (NSC) with no choice but to act swiftly by covering the cost of additional rooms at the official hotel instead.

The accommodation status for the archery squad, comprising 16 athletes and officials, also have yet to be confirmed by the organisers.

To prevent this issue from disrupting the team’s focus, NSC has also booked 11 rooms at a separate hotel as a precautionary measure.

The archery team will leave for Japan on Sept 24.

To date, athletes and officials from women’s basketball, women’s cricket, equestrian, and the men’s and women’s hockey teams have arrived in Aichi, Nagoya and Tokyo, with accommodation provided for all of them by the organisers.

The accommodation issue aside, NSC has also taken measures to address the unpredictable weather in Aichi and Nagoya by providing raincoats to every national athlete, following heavy rains in the area over the past few days.

The secretariat has also established specific safety Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for athletes, in addition to the natural disaster safety SOPs provided by the organisers.

MSN officials in Aichi and Nagoya are also maintaining constant communication with the organisers to ensure that meals provided to the national athletes are halal-certified.

“This assurance applies to athletes staying at the Games Village as well as at official hotels.

“NSC has also brought a supply of ‘ready-to-eat’ meals as a precautionary measure, both to meet potential athlete needs and to mitigate the risk of food poisoning should they be compelled to source food from outside sources,” said NSC in a statement.

NSC also reminded all athletes to promptly inform team management of any issues that could affect their focus or preparation, ensuring that follow-up actions can be coordinated with the organisers to secure the best possible solutions.

More than 17,000 competitors and officials are expected at the continent’s biggest sporting event.

The number of participants – more than the Olympics – has been a sore point for stretched-to-the-limit organisers, who initially expected 15,000 and now have to scramble to find accommodation for the rest. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK