ASIAN GAMES: Organizer apologizes for logistical headaches as more people arrived than expected

NAGOYA, Japan - 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 failed to arrive.

"I played in many FIBA Asia basketball cups and even Asian Games in Incheon some years ago. I never had this kind of issue that the bus is not coming for practice," he told Reuters.

"It was kind of disappointing because we were planning some practice, some shooting for the girls and the mind was prepared for that, and then at the end we had to cancel."

Filipino squash player Yvonne Alyssa Dalida had to endure a lengthy wait before checking into her room aboard a chartered cruise ship, though she found a silver lining in the unconventional setup.

"I think Japan or AINAGOC could have prepared better for this event, but I find it cool as well because it's very unique.

"I've never been on a cruise, so I think that's also the upside of them using this."

-Reporting by Irene Wang and Amlan Chakraborty in Nagoya; Editing by William Mallard/Reuters