The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on Friday dismissed the mounting concerns around organisational chaos in the build-up to the Asian Games, saying that every multi-sport event faces such challenges and attempts to “politicise” or “exploit” them on social media would not be allowed to succeed.
Addressing a media conference on the eve of the Games opening ceremony here, 2026 Asian Games Coordination Committee Chairman Tayyab Ikram sought to downplay the controversies as temporary issues.
The accommodation scarcity at the Games has become an international story and the excruciatingly long check-in process at hotels and long distance travel for training by the athletes is not doing any good to Japan’s image as a host right now.
“There are certain things which we can see in different media and different feedbacks … we strongly condemn this … any attempt to politicise our sporting event which is for athletes. That is something we would like to prevent,” Ikram said.
“… people are trying to come up with concerns in everything, but which Games don’t have challenges? The important thing is what kind of response is there. Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee response has been extraordinary, but OCA and ANAGOC will not allow (anyone) to politicise the Games,” he insisted.
“I don’t want to mention the names, but there are certain concerns which are being exploited on social media. We continue to be positive,” added the veteran official, who is also the president of the International Hockey Federation.
He, however, did not specify who he believes is behind the politicisation of the Games’ issues, which have also affected the Indians, who have complained about cramped rooms and long waits.
On Friday, a Chinese world champion gymnast said that he was “totally exhausted” due to the lengthy registration process for his accommodation which lasted more than six hours.
Zhang, who won two silver medals at 2024 Paris Olympics and has two world championship titles to his name, later booked a room at a hotel to rest, the local media here reported.
A Xinhua report said Chinese badminton players were helped by staff from their Consulate General in Nagoya in arranging chartered vehicles through local overseas Chinese contacts.
The hashtag “Asian Games absurd” has since been viewed more than 94 million times on Weibo, according to ‘Japan Times’.
To make matters worse, South Korea’s Olympic Committee on Friday said it has filed a complaint with the Games organisers for featuring a Japanese warlord at the team welcome ceremony.
The event on Tuesday included a person dressed as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who led Japan’s invasions of Korea in 1592-1598, and the ceremony prompted a backlash in South Korea, according to a report in ‘Japan Times’.
OCA Director General Husain Al Musallam declared that the allocation of rooms for the athletes and their support officials is now complete and there are no more concerns left to be addressed.
“Every athlete, every official, every coach have an accommodation. There is no single accredited person without accommodation. And they have all other logistics,” he said.
Asian Games have grown bigger over the years with the number of athletes from the 45 countries even exceeding that of the Olympic Games. Al Musallam said in addition to the 17,000-plus athletes and support staff, there is also another 5000 technical officials for the conduct of different sports.
“Asian Games cannot be compared with events of any other continental federations,” the Kuwaiti said.
Asked if building an Athletes Village would have been a better idea, now that the lack of accommodation has kicked up a controversy, Musallam said, “First of all, we wish we have an Athletes Village but we also have to be flexible. We also have to think about the cost of the Games.
“We need to listen to organisers, how they look for the future after the Games. It’s very easy to insist on Athletes Village, you spent such amount of money to build it and then we need to see what’s going to happen after the Games.
“Yes, an Athletes Village with a five-star (rating) is good but at the end of the day we need to be practical.” On the increasing number of sports and number of athletes in the Asian Games over the years, the OCA DG said, “You cannot just talk about athletes and then put restriction or obstacle on their participation. I am supportive of the increase in the number of athletes, not decrease the athletes to support the sport.
“Because now with the current political crisis and conflicts in Asia and around the world, we need sport, the world needs sport at this moment more than anything else.” Musallam also defended the introduction of wooden container-style huts for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which some athletes have criticised as cramped for space.
“The container-style accommodations were meant to reduce cost and also for sustainability. May be this may lead to smaller countries being able to host the Games at a reduced cost in the future,” he reasoned.
Ikram said the upcoming editions of the Asian Games in Doha (2030) and Riyadh (2034) will have an Athletes Village.
“For the next two Games, we are already having the Athletes Village. Doha has already inaugurated the Athletes Village. But the OCA will not have a very blind approach that we should have an Athletes Village. We have to take care of the legacy of that Village.
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