Asian Games 2026 — Next two Asiad editions to have dedicated Athletes’ Village, says OCA Director General

Husain Al Musallam stressed the event’s scale, with over 17,000 athletes and staff plus around 5,000 technical officials requiring accommodation. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Olympic Council of Asia Director General Husain Al Musallam confirmed on Friday that the next two Asian Games in Doha and Riyadh will feature dedicated Athletes’ Villages, while also defending host Japan’s controversial choice to forgo such a facility at this edition over cost and sustainability concerns.

The Aichi-Nagoya Games, set to begin tomorrow, faced intense criticism for accommodation problems, with athletes and officials left to secure rooms in container-style huts, a docked cruise ship and a limited supply of hotels.

Al Musallam highlighted the sheer scale of the event, noting that more than 17,000 athletes and support staff, plus around 5,000 technical officials, need to be housed. “Asian Games cannot be compared with events of any other continental federations,” the Kuwaiti official said.

When questioned whether constructing an Athletes’ Village would have been preferable given the current accommodation furore, Al Musallam replied, “First of all, we wish we have an Athletes Village but we also have to be flexible. We also have to think about the cost of the Games. We need to listen to organisers, how they look for the future after the Games. It’s very easy to insist on Athletes Village, you spent such amount of money to build it and then we need to see what’s going to happen after the Games.”

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“Yes, an Athletes Village with a five-star (rating) is good but at the end of the day we need to be practical.” He added that future hosts have already planned for dedicated villages. “For the next two Games, we are already having the Athletes Village. Doha has already inaugurated the Athletes Village. But the OCA will not have a very blind approach that we should have an Athletes Village. We have to take care of the legacy of that Village,” he asserted.

Addressing the steady rise in the number of sports and athletes at the Asian Games, the OCA Director General said, “You cannot just talk about athletes and then put restriction or obstacle on their participation. I am supportive of the increase in the number of athletes, not decrease the athletes to support the sport. Because now with the current political crisis and conflicts in Asia and around the world, we need sport, the world needs sport at this moment more than anything else.”