"Holding a Grudge After Losing the Gold?" South Korea's Basketball Team Faces Another Airport Bus "No-Show" on the Way Home [Nagoya Asian Games]

[Financial News] The journey home for South Korea's men's national basketball team, which reached the top of the Asian Games for the first time in 12 years, was marred until the very end by an incomprehensible farce involving the Organizing Committee for the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya in 2026.
Led by coach Nikolajs Mazurs, the Korean team left its accommodation early on the morning of the 21st to return home, one day after crushing host Japan 67-57 and winning the gold medal. However, the official bus assigned by the organizing committee to take the team to the airport failed to appear even after the scheduled departure time had passed.
The absurd situation was reported in real time through social media by national team forward Jun Seok Yeo. On his social media account, Yeo posted a photo of the stranded players sitting alone by the roadside with their luggage beside them, along with a resigned message: "The bus isn't coming even on the day we're leaving."


This was already the second time the basketball team had been affected by the organizing committee's baffling vehicle "no-show." Just one day earlier, on the 20th, the bus assigned for morning training before the final against Japan failed to arrive, forcing the team to cancel its scheduled shooting practice entirely. After the blatant disruption to training just before the final held on Japan's home soil, the vehicle for the team's trip home also vanished the day after Japan lost the gold medal. Strong criticism poured in from around the venue, with some calling it "Japan's malicious home-team favoritism and petty grudge-holding."
Yet the Taegeuk Warriors who conquered Asia through their ability remained mentally strong despite the blatant adversity. Even as the vehicle delays continued, the players did not complain. Instead, they sat by the roadside waiting together, captured the scene on their phones, shared it on social media and laughed it off, maintaining the composure and dignity of champions. Amid the worst administrative fiasco and home-team favoritism in history, South Korean basketball remained the perfect winner to the very end.

[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter