3 athletes in twin sharing rooms, 30km travel to train – Indian athletes' struggles at 2026 Asian Games

Rooms meant for two are being shared by three, complained some Indian athletes lodged at the much-criticised Costa Serena cruise ship for the 2026 Asian Games as even the host nation's competitors looked for alternate accommodation amid the organisational chaos that has rocked the build-up to the mega-event here.

Barely two days before the opening ceremony, local media reports suggested that some Japanese athletes are looking for alternative arrangements after cases of male and female players being allocated shared rooms emerged.

"There have been cases where coaches, team officials, and athletes have been assigned to the same room. There are also situations where room assignments were made purely based on the numbers, such as assigning five twin rooms for a group of five men and five women," Japan's deputy chef de mission Hisashi Mizutori said.

"While the numbers match on paper, practically it creates challenging situations such as men and women being assigned together, coaches being assigned with athletes, or trainers who need to accommodate a lot of medical equipment being assigned together," he was quoted as saying by Japan Times.

Indian athletes from rowing, wushu and table tennis have already checked in at the Italian cruise ship which is currently at the centre of media attention. The ship is almost 300m long and has 1,500 cabins.

According to one Indian contingent member, three athletes are sharing one room meant for two, and the cramped space is creating inconvenience, though they are not formally complaining.

"In some rooms which are meant for only two athletes, three players are staying. The rooms are already small and one additional athlete makes it even more inconvenient. The athletes want to give their best in such a mega event but they are facing this," a member of the Indian contingent said on conditions of anonymity.

"But we are not complaining, we are adjusting to the situation. Food-wise, though, there are no issues."

It is also learnt that some Indian officials have been asked to make their own arrangements. Two members of the rowing team support staff are staying outside as they could not be accommodated at the cruise ship, it is learnt.

Some of the Indian athletes, particularly rowers, were also made to wait for more than 12 hours on Wednesday, before they finally got their rooms at the cruise ship just before midnight.

"We reached the cruise ship registration area around 9am (on Wednesday), then we waited and waited and finally entered our rooms almost at midnight," one of the Indian athletes said.

Indian contingent's Chef de Mission Sahdev Yadav said that there was "mismanagement" on part of the organisers and the Indian Olympic Association is trying to sort out the issues.

"There has been a bit of mismanagement from them (organisers) but we are sorting out the issue. We are working on that," he said.

Thailand team athletes also reportedly slept on the floor at the welcome centre of the cruise ship on Wednesday before managing to check in.

Athletes travelling long distances for training

In most of the multi-sport events, basic daily training facilities are available at the Athletes Village or nearby areas.

But in a bid to cut cost, the Aichi-Nagoya Games organisers have done away with a designated Athletes Village.

Around 17,000 athletes and officials are being accommodated at the various locations, including the cruise ship docked at Nagoya Port, shipping-container style wooden huts at the dock area of the city and standard hotels across Aichi prefecture.

Some athletes are also staying in Tokyo where a few events are being held.

Since there is no designated Athletes Village, the competitors are travelling long distances for daily training.

The rowers have to travel to Nagaragawa International Regatta Course which is around 30km from the cruise ship for training. Ditto for table tennis players, who are also forced to travel for 30km to maintain their training schedule.

"The rowers have to travel 30km for training and it takes more than one hour," an official said.

The wushu players also have to travel by bus for around 30 minutes to train at the Aichi Prefecture Martial Arts Hall which is more than 10km from the cruise ship.

Not many Indians in container-style huts

Approximately 200 container-style wooden huts are accommodating around 2,000 athletes from various countries. They are mainly meant for athletes from football, basketball, baseball, softball, jiu-jitsu and kurash.

Out of these sports, Indians will compete only in kurash which begins on September 27.

"Kurash team will stay there (container villas). They will reach here around September 24," Deputy Chef de Mission Alaknanda Ashok said.

South Korean officials had earlier criticised the container hut rooms and described them as cramped.

Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games organising committee president Hideaki Omura, however, said that the temporary accommodation could serve as a model for hosting financially sustainable sporting events.

Japan's deputy chef de mission Hisashi Mizutori told a news conference on Thursday that even the home contingent faced accommodation and other problems.

"The process took a significant amount of time, and due to issues with activation of their credentials, we have received reports that some athletes were left waiting for several hours," Mizutori said, according to the local media.

He said the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) had secured hotel rooms in the city as a backup as it anticipated accommodation "challenges".

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed.)