India resolves accommodation shortfall for athletes in Nagoya Asian Games

When India's athletes arrived in Nagoya, Japan for the Asian Games on Friday, several were left without pre-arranged accommodation, prompting immediate action from the Indian contingent, officials said.

Organisers of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games struggled to house a 17,000-strong contingent for the quadrennial event, and reports of mismanagement were already public before the Indian team arrived; about 30 to 35 Indian athletes had been removed from the accommodation list without prior warning. "We have to take care of our athletes and solve their problems and get them good accommodation so that they are in the right frame, both physically and mentally, to win medals and are relaxed," India's Chef de Mission Sahdev Yadav said on Friday.

Yadav said he learned after arriving in Nagoya that the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee had removed several Indian names from the accommodation roster and had told India that more athletes than expected had come. "They (Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee) informed us that more players than expected had come (from India). But as far as India is concerned, that's not the case. We stuck to the number of players they had invoiced. But they removed some names, so we booked hotels for them... we faced difficulty with regard to 30-35 athletes," he said on the sidelines of the flag-hoisting function.

Rather than wait for organisers to resolve the shortage, the Indian support team booked alternative lodging immediately, initially securing 18 hotel rooms and arranging a further 10 to cover roughly 30 athletes. Yadav identified the affected competitors as being from badminton and shooting and added: "Our team quickly swung into action to get accommodation for the athletes as quickly as possible."

Accreditation delays compounded the problem for some athletes housed on the Costa Serena cruise ship, and India arranged extra transport and hotel rooms to prevent anyone remaining stranded. "Of course, there have been delays in getting the accreditation cards of athletes, as it's a long process for those who are being housed on the cruise ship. Yes, there are long delays there, but we dispatched cars and arranged hotels to make things easy for them," Yadav said.

Senior support staff were active at arrivals, with deputy chefs de mission Alaknanda Ashok and Anjali Bhagwat sent to the airport on Thursday night to meet incoming athletes. Yadav said: "Everyone has got accommodation and there is absolutely no problem at our end. Initially, when there were problems, we booked extra hotel rooms. Our team is going to the airport every time to fetch the athletes." He also acknowledged organisational errors: "Yes, there is mismanagement, but it's a big event and it can happen. But we have to look beyond that."

Yadav dismissed reports that Indian athletes had been placed in mixed-gender rooms, saying: "I have not heard of this. As far as our contingent is concerned, no such arrangement has been made." With a storm expected to hit Nagoya, Indian athletes were advised to remain indoors at their hotels and on the cruise ship while Japanese authorities prepared contingency plans that could include temporary evacuation if torrential rain triggers emergency alerts; by Friday Yadav said all Indian athletes had been accommodated and that the focus could return to the competition.