Games-Asiad organisers pledge to address accommodation complaints as cruise ship arrives

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept 15 : Asian Games organisers said they were committed to addressing complaints from athletes and officials about accommodation as the cruise ship that will house around 4,000 of them during the multi-sport event docked in Nagoya on Tuesday.

Having decided not to build a dedicated Athletes' Village, local organisers have looked to creative accommodation options to house the 17,000 competitors and officials arriving for the 20th Asiad.

The Italian cruise ship Costa Serena arrived on Tuesday morning and other participants in the Games will be put up in Airbnbs, hotels and shipping-container style huts in the dock area of Japan's biggest port.

"We are very pleased to welcome this 'ship hotel' here at Kinjo pier," Hideaki Ohmura, the President of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, said in a welcoming speech.

"This marks the first time in Japan that such a facility is being used for accommodation during a major international sporting event. We are delighted to be able to host a large-scale international sporting event with this innovative form of accommodation."

The Games officially begins on Saturday with the opening ceremony but the basketball and soccer competitions are already underway.

There have been media reports of complaints from South Korean basketball players about the size of the beds in the shipping container-style huts on land that will be home to some 2,000 of the visitors.

"We are fully aware of the dissatisfaction and concerns voiced by the athlete delegations," accommodation manager Yuta Matsuo told Reuters.

"However, we are not merely acknowledging these issues, we are already taking concrete steps to improve the environment for the athletes, including their living conditions during their stay."

Mat