Basketball 'No-Show,' Soccer 'Baseball Stadium,' Volleyball 'Dropped Off in the Middle of Nowhere'... Bus Horror Stories Targeting Only Korea's National Teams [Nagoya Asian Games]

[Financial News] How much longer are we supposed to watch this absurd farce? The situation has become embarrassing for an international event as prominent as the Asian Games. The amateurish operation of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee, which has exceeded all imagination, has once again seriously tripped up a Korean national team. This time, it was the men's national volleyball team.
A Korea Volleyball Association official vented his frustration on the 28th, saying, "The shuttle bus assigned by the organizing committee took the national team to the wrong venue, so this morning's training session had to be canceled entirely."
The men's national volleyball team had an important match against Taiwan at 7 p.m. that day—their second group-stage game. The morning was a crucial golden window for the players to loosen up and sharpen their match readiness. Instead, the shuttle bus assigned by the organizing committee lost its way and dropped the team off at a completely unrelated location rather than the training venue. The original training site was a full hour away by car from where they had been dropped off. With time running out, it was impossible to travel there and conduct the session. The team was effectively robbed in broad daylight and had to forfeit its entire valuable morning training session.
What makes the situation particularly infuriating is that the Korean side had taken thorough precautions to prevent it. A Korea Volleyball Association official said, "Transportation problems have been especially frequent at these Games, so we checked and rechecked the arrangements with the organizing committee three or four times yesterday. Even so, this absurd situation occurred," expressing anger. For athletes whose match-day condition is vital, the organizing committee's administrative blunder was tantamount to a devastating attack.
The Aichi-Nagoya organizing committee's 'transportation disaster' is not an isolated incident. Korean national teams have been suffering throughout these Games because of the organizing committee's baffling vehicle-dispatch problems.

Just last Sunday, the men's national basketball team, which won its first gold medal in 12 years, was also unable to train on the morning of its final against Japan because the vehicle supposed to take the team to the training venue never arrived. Since the opponent happened to be Japan, suspicions were even raised that the incident involved host-country favoritism.
The national soccer team has also been affected. Ahead of the match against Qatar on the 15th, the U-23 men's national soccer team led by coach Lee Min-sung experienced a comedy of errors when its driver got lost and headed to a baseball stadium instead of a soccer stadium. The team eventually arrived 30 minutes late and had to scramble through the match. The following day, on the 16th, no vehicle was assigned at all, disrupting the training schedule.
Of course, the problem does not affect Korea alone. On the 21st, the Vietnam team bus arrived 1 hour and 15 minutes late for a women's volleyball placement match, creating another farcical situation in which the match itself was delayed.
The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games have delivered failing-grade operations—in accommodation, transportation, and training conditions—that are worse than those of a neighborhood sports day. The players' sweat is being stained by the organizing committee's utterly incomprehensible blunders.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter