Asian Games Hit By Accommodation Crunch As Teams Struggle For Rooms: Report

Last Updated:September 14, 2026, 09:33 IST

Accommodation woes are threatening to overshadow the Asian Games in Japan, with teams struggling for rooms.

South Korea has said that there is a serious shortage of accommodation at the Asian Games (Picture credit: AFP)

With just five days to go for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, foreign contingents are complaining that there is a serious accommodation crunch in the city, as teams are already struggling for rooms, with officials from the Philippines having resorted to Airbnbs, according to a report in AFP.

There is no dedicated athletes’ village at the event, with organisers instead relying on a cruise ship, temporary wooden containers and hotels in a bid to cut costs.

The Games are being held across Nagoya and the wider Aichi region, with some events already underway ahead of Saturday’s opening ceremony. More than 17,000 athletes and officials are expected to attend, going past the number at the Olympics.

Local organisers were expecting 15,000 and argued in August that they had ‘neither the manpower nor the budget’ to deal with ballooning numbers.

The organisers later issued a joint statement with the Olympic Council of Asia, assuring that all athletes and officials registered before the July deadline would be provided with ‘Games-appropriate accommodation’.

But a Korean Sport and Olympic Committee official told AFP that their team had encountered issues.

“At the moment there is a serious shortage of accommodation not only for the entire South Korean delegation to the Asian Games, but for delegations from around the world in the Aichi-Nagoya area,” the official said.

“We are doing everything we can to resolve the issue and ensure there are no such problems. In any case, athletes will continue to enter and leave the country, so we will make the necessary arrangements accordingly to ensure everything proceeds without problems,” the official added.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino told AFP that all his nation’s athletes had been given a bed.

But ‘some officials, like coaches, were moved to different hotels and Airbnb’, Tolentino said.

Asian Games organisers didn’t respond to an AFP request for comment.

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What alternative lodging options are being used for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games instead of a dedicated athletes’ village?

Because there is no dedicated athletes’ village for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, organizers are cutting costs by housing participants on a luxury cruise ship, in temporary wooden container-style huts, and in hotels.

Why did Asian Games organizers state they could not accommodate late additions to the delegations?

In August, local organizers stated they had neither the manpower nor the budget to handle the ballooning participant numbers, which grew from an expected 15,000 to over 17,000 athletes and officials. The host city agreement only budgeted and planned for 15,000 people, leaving no extra resources or accommodation for late registrations.

How have international delegations like South Korea and the Philippines been affected by the Asian Games accommodation shortage?

A South Korean Olympic official reported a serious shortage of accommodation in the Aichi-Nagoya area for their delegation and others worldwide. Meanwhile, Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino confirmed that while all their athletes secured beds, some officials and coaches had to be moved to different hotels and Airbnbs.

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