"The Bus Didn't Come Because of You? We're Doing Fine the Japanese Way?" Nagoya Asian Games Organizers Give an Astonishing Answer

[Financial News]   They left athletes stranded by the roadside and, instead of showing any remorse, offered only shameless excuses. The organizing committee for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games staged an absurd farce, shifting the blame for the continuing accommodation and transportation disasters onto "the athletes from participating countries." Delegations from South Korea, Thailand and elsewhere, exhausted by the committee's chaotic administration, exploded in anger. The situation ultimately escalated to the point where they openly lambasted the committee's incompetence.
Yuta Matsuo, deputy director in charge of accommodation for the organizing committee, played down the mounting complaints about the event's operations at an official briefing held on the 24th at Japan's Nagoya Main Press Center, saying, "They are not serious enough to disrupt the Games."
His explanation only made matters worse. In response to criticism that tall athletes could not lie down properly on the beds in the inadequate container accommodations, he dismissed the concerns, saying, "We provided an extension device (an ottoman) that allows them to stretch out their legs, so there is no problem." Regarding the most serious bus fiasco, he instead blamed the participating countries, saying, "Some delegations changed their schedules late at night or failed to come out in time for the shuttle, causing confusion." He went even further, adding, "We are responding swiftly in the Japanese way," and congratulating the committee on its own performance.
But the reality behind the committee's claimed "Japanese-style response" was disastrous. Contrary to the organizers' sophistic claim that the athletes were at fault, the venues have seen a succession of major incidents caused entirely by the organizing committee.
The South Korean men's basketball team lost its entire official practice session ahead of a crucial final against Japan when the bus arranged by the organizers simply failed to show up. The men's football team also saw its training schedule thrown into disarray after its shuttle-bus driver got lost and stopped at the wrong location. After recognizing the seriousness of the situation, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team even abandoned the committee's buses and rented a private shuttle at its own expense—an absurd spectacle no one could laugh at.
South Korea was not the only country affected. On the first day after arriving, the Vietnam women's volleyball team was dropped off at the wrong hotel by its bus driver and had to wander the streets dragging heavy suitcases. On the day of the placement match, a bus arrived 90 minutes late, forcing the match itself to be delayed and causing international embarrassment. The media shuttle for reporters also effectively became a "ghost bus."

The heads of the sports community eventually lost patience and launched a fierce criticism of the organizers. Ryu Seung-min, president of the KSOC, told reporters on the 24th, "It is not appropriate for the organizing committee to make excuses," adding, "The event's operations are truly F-grade. If this continues to happen, it would constitute serious incompetence."
The National Olympic Committee of Thailand also expressed its fury. Chalitrat Chandrueksa, deputy secretary-general, told Agence France-Presse (AFP), "The size of the delegations and the number of cruise-ship and hotel rooms did not match at all, so it was chaos from beginning to end. In the end, we have had to pay for alternative accommodations and meals ourselves. The medical staff have no accommodation and are staying 90 minutes away." The international sports festival is turning into a brutal survival game of every delegation fending for itself amid the organizers' complacent blame-shifting.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter