‘I’m a total ghost in their system’: Indian MMA athlete details Asian Games accommodation mess, later deletes video

Varun Sanyal (left) and a person walk near wooden container units built to house athletes ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, on September 15, 2026. Indian MMA athlete Varun Sanyal has spoken about the challenges he faced after arriving in Japan for the Asian Games, where the sport is making its debut at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.Sanyal, a bronze medalist at the Asian Championships in China in January 2026, traveled from London to Nagoya via Mumbai and Singapore. But his problems began after he got to Japan, where he said he had to wait for hours at various facilities while officials tried to clear him and assign him a room.In the seven-minute video, which he later deleted from social media, Sanyal said he faced long delays at the convention center after officials could not find his name in their system. He had an official accreditation ID card that also doubles as his visa, but he said officials were still unable to find his details.He said he was left waiting for about three hours without a clear decision or food before being moved between different locations and eventually directed to the Costa Serena cruise ship, which is used to house athletes.“It’s been one crazy day and it’s still not over. I thought it was over, but it’s not. There’s a lot of chaos in terms of athlete rooms and room allocation. If it happened in India, it would be 100% more of a problem. The media would go crazy over it and India as a country wouldn’t hear the end of it now,” Sanyal said in the video.Sanyal said the problems started soon after he arrived in Nagoya.“When you get to Nagoya, they take a shuttle from the airport… and once you get there, it’s total chaos. I go to the counter… and they can’t find my name anywhere in the system. Like, I’m a total ghost in their system. It took about two hours… I’m not exaggerating, two hours like they were running. By the time we left my facility, it was already three hours,” he added.The delay also meant that Sanyal could not get food while waiting.“There was no food in any of these facilities. They would give you bottles of water, but there is no food and you can’t even go anywhere to buy anything,” he said.“Yes, I know as an MMA fighter or maybe a wrestler, a boxer, etc., you lose weight, but you still need to eat. You still need some food.”At the third facility, Sanyal said he met athletes from Tajikistan and Sri Lanka who faced similar challenges.“Everybody faces a similar problem. So this is gone, this has spread. So I’m like, what the hell is going on?”

Three athletes were given one room

Sanyal was eventually transferred to Costa Serena and given a room. After a shower, he went to bed thinking that the problems were over.However, after about 30 minutes, he woke up after hearing a commotion and found two Indian athletes in the room.“I just see two Indian athletes standing right above me, looking as confused as I am, and we’re just looking at each other, what’s going on here,” he said.Both athletes were also assigned the same room.“It showed in the system that they allotted me this room. But this room originally belonged to them,” said Varun.All three were then left in uncertainty as to what would happen next.“These two poor athletes are now in the same loop that I was in. I don’t know what’s going to happen either. They’re going to get fired. It might just bring me down again.”“It’s just a mess. It’s just a mess.”Sanyal’s report comes amid wider concerns about accommodation at the Asian Games.The South Korean Olympic Committee said on Monday there was a “severe shortage of accommodation” for the event, while officials from the Philippines turned to Airbnb.Accommodation problems continued on Thursday, with even athletes from host country Japan reportedly seeking alternative arrangements after instances of male and female athletes being allocated shared rooms.Local organizers originally expected about 15,000 athletes and officials to attend the games. They later said they had “neither the manpower nor the budget” to deal with the higher number.The organizers subsequently issued a joint statement with the Olympic Council of Asia, saying that all athletes and officials registered before the July deadline would be “provided with accommodation suitable for the Games”.More than 17,000 competitors and officials are expected to attend the Games.The number of participants, which is higher than at the Olympics, caused problems for the organizers, who originally planned for 15,000 people and had to find accommodation for additional participants.They decided not to build a village dedicated to athletes to keep costs down. Instead, athletes and officials are housed in a mix of hotels, cruise ships and temporary accommodation, including wooden cabins and shipping container huts.