Asian Games Hosts Face Accommodation Shortfall After Entry Increase

Organizers of the 2026 Asian Games in Japan say they cannot provide accommodation for all of the athletes and officials now expected at the event. BBC Sport reported on Friday that the projected delegation has risen from 15,000 to about 17,000, leaving hosts to tell participants beyond the original plan that they may need to arrange their own lodging. The Games are scheduled for September 19 through October 4 in Nagoya and the surrounding Aichi region.

The increase was confirmed last week by the Olympic Council of Asia, according to the BBC. The higher total followed the addition earlier this year of teqball, a sport combining elements of football and table tennis, and padel. Those additions have put the expected attendance roughly 2,000 above the figure used in the host planning agreement.

Nagoya mayor Ichiro Hirosawa, who is also acting chairman of the local organizing committee, said accommodating the larger delegation was difficult because the Games are operating under tight budget conditions. Organizing committee president and Aichi Prefecture governor Hideaki Omura said the hosts lacked both the staffing and money needed to handle the late increase. He said the host-city agreement specified 15,000 people and that no budget had been reserved for more.

The accommodation plan already differs from the purpose-built athletes' villages commonly associated with the Olympic Games. Organizers are relying on several forms of temporary lodging instead. Between 4,000 and 5,000 athletes are due to stay aboard the Italian cruise ship Costa Serena while it is docked in the area, the BBC reported.

Another 2,000 competitors are set to use shipping container-style huts. The remaining athletes and officials are planned to stay in Tokyo hotels, with swimming, diving and equestrian competition scheduled to take place in the capital. That arrangement spreads participants across different types of accommodation as organizers work within the capacity established for the original delegation estimate.

Omura said athletes who still intend to come despite the shortage will have to make their own arrangements. The BBC report did not specify how many members of the enlarged delegation currently lack organizer-provided rooms, whether individual teams have secured alternatives, or whether the attendance figure could change before the opening date. For now, the confirmed increase has left the host committee maintaining that its accommodation and budget commitments cover 15,000 people, not the newer estimate of about 17,000.