‘Asian Games absurd’: Athletes say they ‘can’t take it any more’ amid delays, shortages and warlord row

The Asian Games in Japan are facing organisational issues, including a shortage of rooms and poor accommodation quality for more than 17,000 participants.

Chinese athletes, including world champion gymnast Zhang Boheng, experienced long delays and exhaustion due to logistical problems and heavy rain upon arrival.

South Korea lodged a complaint over a Japanese warlord being featured during a welcoming ceremony, citing historical sensitivities with Japan.

NAGOYA, Sept 18 — The Asian Games in Japan were today facing more accusations of poor organisation with a world champion gymnast “totally exhausted”, the public drafted in to rescue stranded athletes and South Korea lodging a complaint about a Japanese warlord.

The continent’s premier sporting spectacle opens in Nagoya and Aichi prefecture tomorrow, but the build-up has been soured by several issues.

That includes a shortage of rooms for the more than 17,000 athletes and officials — a bigger number than the Olympics.

Some teams have also criticised the quality of the accommodation, including beds that are too short.

To save money, there is no athletes’ village, organisers instead putting competitors in hotels, temporary cabins and on a cruise ship.

Organisers say the accommodation is safe, cost-effective and comfortable.

Chinese gymnast Zhang Boheng, who won two silver medals at the Paris Olympics and has two world championship titles to his name, said he and some of his team-mates were left waiting for six hours after landing on Wednesday.

“I’m totally exhausted,” he said in a video published yesterday and shared widely on Chinese social media.

“I didn’t expect that after breakfast at 7am the next time I could eat would be close to 7pm,” the 26-year-old said.

He said the wait was caused by registration and paperwork, before heading to the cruise ship where 4,000 Games participants will be housed in Nagoya’s port area.

But when they arrived at the ship, he said heavy rain prevented them from boarding.

“A whole day was basically wasted like this,” added Zhang.

“In the end, we really couldn’t take it any more so we decided to book rooms at a hotel to rest.”

The video has since been taken down but Chinese state media said that other Chinese athletes also faced travel delays upon arrival.

Beijing’s consulate in Nagoya contacted Chinese citizens in the area to give the badminton team lifts after issues with a shuttle bus and a shortage of public transport tickets, Xinhua reported.

Chinese social media users applauded athletes, including table tennis star Sun Yingsha, for stretching and exercising at the airport.

The hashtag “Asian Games absurd” has since been viewed more than 94 million times on Weibo.

India’s team had similar delays at the airport.

“There was an issue in getting accreditation for athletes at the airport during immigration. There were long queues with a lot of other nations there,” India’s chef de mission and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) treasurer Sahdev Yadav told AFP.

“But these things happen and we have got everything sorted.

He added: “These are all teething problems and our focus is now on performance.”

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that some of the country’s athletes waited at the airport for more than five hours yesterday.

“We are aware of the situation including reports that athletes have had to wait for hours and we are doing our best to handle it,” a Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) official told AFP.

Also today, the KSOC said it had filed a complaint with Games organisers for featuring a Japanese warlord at a welcoming ceremony.

The event on Tuesday included a person dressed as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who led Japan’s invasions of Korea in 1592-1598, and the ceremony prompted a backlash in South Korea.

Historical issues are sensitive between South Korea and Japan, with Hideyoshi’s invasion a significant episode in Korean history and Korea under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

There was no immediate response from the Olympic Council of Asia or the local organising committee. — AFP

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在日本举行的亚运会面临组织方面的问题，包括17000多名参赛人员的房间短缺和住宿质量差。

包括世界体操冠军张伯衡在内的中国运动员，由于后勤问题和抵达时的大雨，经历了长时间的延误和疲惫。

韩国就欢迎仪式上出现日本军阀形象一事提出抗议，理由是涉及韩国与日本的历史敏感性。

名古屋，9 月 18 日——在日本举行的亚运会今天面临更多组织不善的指责，一位世界体操冠军“筋疲力尽”，公众被征召去营救被困运动员，韩国还对一位日本军阀提出投诉。

明天，欧洲大陆最重要的体育盛事将在名古屋和爱知县开幕，但由于一些问题，赛事筹备工作受到了影响。

这其中包括17000多名运动员和官员的住宿短缺问题——这个数字比奥运会还要多。

一些球队还批评了住宿条件，包括床太短。

为了节省开支，没有设立运动员村，而是将参赛选手安排在酒店、临时小屋和游轮上。

组织者表示，住宿安全、经济实惠且舒适。

曾在巴黎奥运会上获得两枚银牌、并拥有两届世界冠军头衔的中国体操运动员张伯恒表示，他和一些队友在周三着陆后等了六个小时。

“我筋疲力尽，”他在昨天发布的一段视频中说道，这段视频在中国社交媒体上广泛传播。

这位26岁的年轻人说：“我没想到早上7点吃完早餐后，下一次能吃东西的时间竟然要到晚上7点左右了。”

他表示，等待的原因是登记和文书工作，之后他们将前往游轮，4000名奥运会参赛者将入住停泊在名古屋港口区的游轮。

但当他们到达船上时，他说大雨阻止了他们登船。

张补充道：“就这样，整整一天都浪费掉了。”

“最后，我们实在忍无可忍了，所以决定在酒店订房间休息一下。”

该视频已被删除，但中国官方媒体称，其他中国运动员抵达后也面临行程延误。

据新华社报道，由于接驳巴士出现问题且公共交通票短缺，北京驻名古屋总领事馆联系了当地的中国公民，为羽毛球队提供搭车服务。

中国社交媒体用户称赞包括乒乓球明星孙颖莎在内的运动员在机场进行拉伸和锻炼。

“亚运会荒谬”这个话题标签在微博上的浏览量已经超过9400万次。

印度队在机场也遇到了类似的延误。

“在机场入境时，运动员办理认证手续遇到了一些问题。当时排起了长队，还有很多其他国家的运动员也在那里。”印度代表团团长兼印度奥林匹克协会（IOA）财务主管萨赫德夫·亚达夫告诉法新社。

“但这种事难免发生，我们已经把一切都安排妥当了。”

他补充道：“这些都是初期问题，我们现在的重点是提升业绩。”

韩国联合通讯社报道称，该国一些运动员昨天在机场等候了五个多小时。

韩国体育和奥林匹克委员会（KSOC）一位官员告诉法新社：“我们已经了解了包括运动员不得不等待数小时在内的情况，我们正在尽最大努力处理此事。”

今天，韩国奥委会还表示，已就奥运会组委会邀请日本军阀参加欢迎仪式一事向奥运会组委会提出投诉。

周二的活动中，有人装扮成丰臣秀吉，他曾于 1592 年至 1598 年率领日本入侵朝鲜半岛，该仪式在韩国引发了强烈反弹。

韩国和日本之间存在着敏感的历史问题，丰臣秀吉的入侵是韩国历史上的一个重要事件，1910 年至 1945 年韩国处于日本的殖民统治之下。

亚洲奥林匹克理事会和当地组委会均未立即作出回应。——法新社

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阿隆索表示，随着克利尔莱克收购切尔西，博利时代结束，切尔西的雄心壮志“非常明确”。

希望联盟支持首相赦免纳吉布的立场，称无人可以凌驾于法律之上。

商人因欺​​骗董事支付超过36万令吉购买AED（自动体外除颤器）而被判入狱并处以藤条刑罚。

沙阿南一名患有脑瘫的女孩因在学校拉扯椅子事件而面临100万令吉的诉讼，但败诉，其家人将提起上诉。