Games-Organiser says sorry for logistical headaches at Asian Games

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept 26 : The chief organiser of the Asian Games apologised on Saturday for the logistical headaches plaguing the event, saying a late influx of athletes and officials had made it difficult to extend smooth service. 

The number of participants at the continental showpiece ballooned to 17,000 following a flurry of late entries — around 2,000 more than the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games Organising Committee had initially projected.

The unexpected surge strained accommodation and transport networks, prompting complaints from athletes and team officials over cramped rooms, small beds and travel delays.

"There have been mistakes in accommodation and transport, for various reasons," AINAGOC Secretary General Satoshi Murate told a press conference.

"Whatever the cause, AINAGOC is responsible for providing the service, and I frankly apologise for the mistakes.

"Our staff work every day to identify the causes of each mistake and make sure they don't happen again. I think you can see that accommodation and transport have improved greatly compared with the early days."

Murate added that maintaining consistent service standards had proved challenging following the "significant" increase in delegation sizes.

"Our top priority is making sure the athletes can compete at their best. We are fully committed to making the necessary improvements to ensure that they can do so," he said.

"We are already working on a number of improvements, and in the second half of the Games, we want to make sure those efforts produce results and that we can manage things more smoothly and effectively."

Mongolian women's basketball coach Javier Garcia Alvarez criticised the transport system after a training session had to be scrapped when the team bus