Olympic Council of Asia officials see no accommodation issues at Asian Games

NAGOYA – Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Coordination Committee chairman Mohammad Tayyab Ikram said on Sept 18 there were no concerns following reports that some athletes were unable to stay in accommodation.

Ikram, a member of the Olympic Council of Asia that organises the Asian Games, said during a press conference in Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, that facility allocations were “completed”.

“Each athlete and each participant has the accommodation, and they are comfortable with this,” Ikram said.

An athletes’ village has not been set up for the Games, which open on Sept 19, as a cost-cutting measure, with athletes instead staying on a cruise ship at the Garden Pier in Nagoya port as well as in container-style accommodation and hotels.

“Even today and this morning, our team was in the Garden Pier, and I think I would also welcome you all to look there. It is easy to mention container house, but please go and see yourself. Okay, it is a very good facility for the athletes.”

“We don’t want to leave a ‘white elephant’ after the games here. They were not easy discussions, but it was also not a compromise because then we found very unique alternatives... We are happy with what our colleagues in Nagoya did.”

Teqball was added to the programme in February and padel in March at the request of the OCA, while the number of athletes has risen from the originally scheduled 15,000 to over 17,000.

The addition of sports came at a time when the International Olympic Committee is eyeing a reduction in the number of sports at the Olympics. OCA Director-General Husain A.H.Z. Al-Musallam said he cannot say there will be a cap on athletes’ numbers at future Asian Games.

“We choose not to sacrifice the athletes. We want every athlete to have the possibility and chance to compete,” he said.

“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.” KYODO NEWS