Besides, hotels closer to competition venues will be used to put up athletes and delegations for the September 19-October 4 Games. New Delhi: The Asian Games in Japan’s Aichi-Nagoya will be a unique experience for athletes. A conventional Athletes Village has not been built. An Italian cruise ship, Costa Serena, docked at the Port of Nagoya, and temporary villas made of shipping containers will accommodate athletes.
Indian Olympic Association CEO Raghuram Iyer said BCCI is looking to send a team to check the facilities and accommodation before the cricketers leave for the Games. “BCCI has made hotel bookings and may send a team to check the accommodation and venue facilities,” Iyer told HT. “For sports with larger teams like hockey, cricket, whenever there are huge kitbags and equipment is very big, request has been made for additional storage space.”
There are already some concerns raised at the Asian Cricket Council meeting regarding accommodation, and player facilities at the cricket venue. The men’s and women’s T20 tournament will be held at a newly built cricket ground in Nisshin at the Korogi Sports Park, near Nagoya. IOA has stepped up efforts to take care of the logistical challenges. The IOA team is looking to ensure that support staff members, who do not get Games accommodation, stay closer to the venue. The IOA has sought additional storage spaces for team sports as rooms in Japan are small.
Let’s say 50% to 60% of the athletes will be in the Athlete Plaza, which is the Games Village, where some of them will also be staying in (converted) containers.
A lot of sports are played at nearby venues or around the accommodation areas,” former Indian table tennis stalwart, Sharath Kamal, the deputy Chef de Mission, told HT. But we are trying to find out how we can organise such services for every sport in this decentralised system,” Sharat said. “This time it is not going to be a typical Asian Games village where all the athletes are in one place and they will be travelling around. There will be three people in a container. “Those things we might not be able to do.
