Asian Games: Indian MMA star confirms accommodation mess, athletes stranded for hours
The 2026 Asian Games hit a mess in accommodation in Nagoya, leaving Indian athletes waiting for rooms for hours after arriving in Japan. Indian MMA star Varun Sanyal has now confirmed the situation and revealed that he too was caught up in the long wait.
Several Asian Games delegations faced delays after arriving in Nagoya, with a system malfunction affecting athlete information and preventing some competitors from boarding their designated shuttles. Sanyal, who will represent India in the 77kg traditional MMA category, confirmed the interruption to X and said he had already been waiting for seven hours.
“I can confirm this is true… I’m currently 7 hours and counting,” Sanyal wrote on X.
Accommodation problems affected members of the Indian contingent, with some athletes waiting for more than 14 hours before their rooms were sorted. During the lengthy wait, athletes were provided with drinking water, while the lack of proper accommodation and transport delays added to the frustration of competitors arriving just days before the events.
The timing has made the situation particularly inconvenient for the Indian athletes as several contingents are already beginning their final preparations. The shooting team, whose competition starts on September 20, is also struggling with long journeys to their training site, the journey is said to take more than two hours in some cases.
TEAM THAILAND ALSO CAUGHT IN CHAOS
India is not the only contingent that faced problems in Nagoya. Athletes from Vietnam, China, South Korea and Thailand also faced accommodation problems as delegations arrived ahead of the Games.
Thailand’s Sepak Takraw national team had a particularly unusual experience when they arrived in Nagoya on September 16. Details of their accommodation were missing from the system, so the team was not allocated rooms aboard the Costa Serena, a cruise ship used to accommodate athletes.
The situation left members of the Thai team waiting on the floor of the cruise ship’s lobby while officials worked to resolve the issue. Ultimately, the athletes were temporarily placed in rooms allocated to other members of the Thai delegation as the accommodation issue was resolved.
Costa Serena is one of the main accommodation centers for the Games, with thousands of athletes and officials staying on board. Organizers are also using converted shipping containers and hotels across the region instead of a conventional athlete village.
INDIA IS FACING A LOGISTICS CHALLENGE
For India, accommodation issues added another layer to the logistical challenge in Nagoya. The contingent is spread across cruise ship, container-style accommodation and hotels, with transport to training sites also emerging as an issue.
Deputy Indian Chef de Mission Sharath Kamal had earlier said that the athletes are ready for unusual accommodation. The Sports Authority of India has also created container-style rooms at its centers to give athletes an idea of what to expect in Nagoya.
However, initial experience has shown that the problem goes beyond simply getting used to different rooms. Athletes arriving at the main event need to settle in quickly, recover properly and get into training routines, so delays with accommodation and transport are an unwelcome distraction.
The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games officially begin on September 19 and will run until October 4. With thousands of athletes and officials arriving in Japan, organizers will have to deal with accommodation and transport issues as the competition gets under way.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
17 Sep 2026 14:16 IST