Asian Games accommodation hit by delays, India ready for challenges

With four days to go until the opening ceremony of the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, India, she is confident her athletes will not face any major problems with accommodation, despite some last-minute logistical problems associated with the unusual housing arrangements at the Games.

Sports ministry sources said there were delays in the allotment of some container accommodation, but stressed that the problem was not limited to the Indian contingent. Several foreign teams have also faced delays as organizers work to finalize accommodation following a model different from previous Asian Games.

There will be no conventional Games Village in Aichi-Nagoya. Instead, athletes and support staff will be spread across hotels, cruise ships and temporary container-style accommodation. The cruise liner is due to dock at Kinjo Pier on Tuesday, four days before the opening ceremony on September 19, while the other accommodation will be container homes at Garden Pier. The cruise ship Costa Serena is used as one of the accommodation facilities. (Photo by Reuters)

Sports ministry sources said the Indian chief of mission has kept the ministry informed about the accommodation issues, but there is confidence that the remaining issues will be resolved without any major disruption to the Indian contingent.

INDIA READY AND READY FOR ANY CHALLENGES

The Ministry has also prepared for the possibility of complications with accommodation at the last minute. Sports ministry sources said the hotel rooms were booked in advance as an emergency measure, giving India another option if there were delays in the allocation or movement of athletes between different accommodation groups.

The unusual system is partly due to how accommodation was planned according to competition schedules. According to the accommodation regulations of the Games, rooms are provided from two days before the athlete’s race to one day after the race. This means accommodation will operate on a rotational system rather than each athlete staying in one place during the Games.

A number of Indian athletes have already arrived in Japan for acclimatization and competition, with their respective federations taking care of their accommodation during the early arrival period. Sports ministry sources said that the athletes who arrived ahead of their competition schedule are being properly taken care of.

However, the preparations in Nagoya were tested by extreme weather last week.

NAGOYA WAS CATCHED BY RECORD RAINFALLS

Record rainfall hit Nagoya on September 8, with about 104 mm of rain falling in one hour. Roads were flooded, public transport was disrupted and some game sites were flooded. Approximately 400 athletes and officials, who were staying in modified shipping containers, were temporarily evacuated to higher ground as a precaution. They were able to return after the evacuation order was lifted and no injuries were reported. Courtesy: Reuters

Some temporary accommodation was also affected by the floods, according to the sources of the Ministry of Sports, the water got into the container units. The organizers then approached the affected places.

Despite the suspension, Nagoya Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa said the situation was not serious enough to threaten the games, while organizers continued preparations for the September 19 opening.

The accommodation model, unusual for India, is not something the athletes in Japan have encountered for the first time.

SAI HAS HIS ATHLETES READY

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has already set up container-style accommodation at its centers in Bengaluru and Patiala to give athletes heading to the Asian Games a chance to experience the conditions they will face in Aichi-Nagoya.

The exercise was designed to familiarize the unfamiliar environment before the athletes travel to Japan. SAI officials have prepared a schedule under which athletes will spend the night in simulated accommodation, wake up there the next morning and then resume their normal training routine. Shipping container style accommodation at the Asian Games. (Photo by Reuters)

The units have been designed to replicate the kind of accommodation Indian athletes can expect in Japan. At the SAI center in Bengaluru, the air-conditioned units have double bedrooms, bathrooms, a small kitchen and a living area.

The simulation followed a tour of accommodation in Japan by a team from the Ministry and SAI. SAI officials said the exercise was not only meant to test the physical space, but also to ensure the athletes were mentally prepared for a change from the conventional Games Village model.

Two-time Asian Games champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor was among the athletes who experienced the simulation. The exercise also gave the athletes an opportunity to provide feedback on the facility and understand how they would manage their space and equipment in more compact accommodation.

SAI Deputy Director General Vineet Kumar said the aim is to ensure that accommodation does not become a psychological distraction for athletes once they arrive in Japan.

Preparations are now being tested as the games enter the final days before the opening ceremony.

While accommodation allocations are still being fine-tuned for the contingents, sources in the sports ministry remain confident that India’s advance planning, including hotel contingencies and a SAI simulation exercise, will allow the athletes to focus on the competition rather than logistics.

The OCA Asian Games Organizing Committee and Aichi-Nagoya also said all of the more than 17,000 registered athletes and officials had been provided with Games-appropriate accommodation, discouraging reports of a wider failure to provide accommodation for participants.

For India, the priority now is to ensure that the unconventional accommodation model remains just that: an unusual feature of the Games, rather than a distraction from the country’s medal campaign.

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Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

15 Sep 2026 15:40 IST