Nagoya Asian Games organisers come out fighting, blame teams for cruise ship ‘confusion’

A man walks past temporary wooden container huts being used to house athletes for the 2026 Asian Games at the Garden Pier in Nagoya on September 17, 2026. — AFP pic

First Published: Tuesday, 22 Sep 2026 5:08 PM MYT

NAGOYA, Sept 22 — Asian Games organisers came out fighting on Tuesday, blaming teams for “confusion” and delays in boarding the cruise ship housing thousands of athletes in the Japanese city of Nagoya.

The continent’s biggest sporting showpiece, with more than 17,000 athletes and officials, faced several issues before it even officially opened on Saturday.

A few teams said there was a shortage of rooms and others complained about the quality of some accommodation.

In some cases, athletes were also stranded for hours on arrival last week.

There is no athletes’ village as a cost-cutting measure, with participants instead staying in temporary cabins, hotels and the Costa Serena cruise ship.

Frustrated athletes have made their feelings known online, with complaints also about some of the food.

More than 4,000 people are staying on the ship in Nagoya’s port.

“We are aware that, upon boarding the cruise ship on September 16, some delegations posted messages on social media and other platforms indicating confusion,” the local organising committee AINAGOC said in a statement.

“While some reports have suggested that ‘AINAGOC’s failure to submit accommodation information to the accommodation system led to delays in boarding’, this was not the cause.

“We understand that the primary reason for the boarding delays and confusion was the time required to resolve issues with incomplete documentation submitted by some delegations.”

The statement said they are working with Costa Cruises and a company to which they outsourced operations “to handle the situation appropriately”.

AINAGOC said it was also aware of “critical comments on social media” made by some delegations about the quality of food and drinks at one competition venue.

“These items were not provided by the AINAGOC,” it said. — AFP