OCA official urges support for Japan’s cost-cutting Asian Games housing plan in Nagoya
Husain Al-Musallam, director general of the Olympic Council of Asia, said on Saturday, September 19, 2026 in Nagoya that Japan should be commended for using unconventional athlete accommodation at the Asian Games and warned organisers that they must avoid financial losses for the host nation.
The build-up to Asia’s biggest multi-sport event has been affected by a shortage of accommodation in Nagoya for the more than 17,000 participants, with some countries complaining about room quality, particularly in shipping container-style huts. Japanese organisers chose not to construct a conventional athletes’ village as a cost-saving measure.
Organisers have spread participants across different types of lodging: about 4,000 athletes and officials are staying on the cruise liner Costa Serena at Nagoya Port, roughly 2,000 are housed in wooden huts, and the remainder are accommodated in hotels in the city and elsewhere across Aichi prefecture.
Al-Musallam defended the approach and said Japan should be praised for trying a different model. "Everyone talks about the cost of the Games and how the Games should be managed, and then Japan comes up with a new idea and tries something where there is no athletes' village," he said. "Because the most important thing we are taking care of as the OCA for the host is what will happen after the closing."
He framed the decision as driven by concern for post‑Games outcomes and public investment. "What's going to happen to your investment after the closing? We don't want Japan to lose their money for nothing," Al-Musallam said, and he added that nations considering hosting major competitions should take note of Japan's experiment.
Al-Musallam also said: "What Japan have done here, and Aichi-Nagoya and Olympic Council of Asia, could be the future example for the cost-reduction of multi-sport events such as the Asian Games," stressing the potential for this model to inform future hosts.
The Asian Games officially open later on Saturday (September 19, 2026) in Nagoya.