New Delhi, India, September 8, 2024: The Olympic Council of Asia and the organising committee of the next Asian Games in Japan are still working towards a solution to provide an adequate Asian Games Village.
The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee (AINAGOC) provided a progress report to the 44th OCA General Assembly in New Delhi on Sunday and said venue construction was on track for the 20th Asiad, which will be held from September 19 to October 4, 2026.
The main stadium will be the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, which will have a capacity of 30,000 and will be used for the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics competition. The stadium should be completed by March 2026 – six months before the Games.
With AINAGOC ruling out the construction of an Asian Games Village, the plan is to accommodate up to 15,000 athletes and officials from 45 National Olympic Committees in hotels and other accommodation in Nagoya city, Aichi prefecture and in co-hosting cities including Tokyo for swimming and diving and equestrian.
At the last OCA General Assembly, AINAGOC reported that they planned to use a cruise ship docked in Nagoya Port as a village, accommodating 4,000 athletes and officials and also using the pier for cultural events and activities. The cruise ship was one of 50 accommodations in the plan.
However, the OCA is concerned about NOCs having athletes, officials and entourage staff scattered about the city, prefecture and even further afield, and the difficulty in managing their delegations.
The OCA Director General, Husain Al Musallam, said he was worried that the Asian Games spirit among athletes from different countries and cultures would be lost without an Asian Games Village.
Capt. Husain said the OCA Executive Board had given the mandate to the OCA Coordination Committee to look into this issue during their meetings in Nagoya in 10 days’ time – around the time of the two-year countdown.
The OCA Vice President for the 20th Asian Games, Tsunekazu Takeda, said he would meet with the Aichi Prefecture Governor, Hideaki Ohmura, as they still had two more years before the Games; he was confident that Japan could host a good and successful Asian Games.
Meanwhile, NOCs were given a timeline for the three-stage Sport Entry process:
Entry by Sport, January to March 2025
Entry by Number, October to December 2025
Entry by Name, April to June 2026
The second OCA/AINAGOC Coordination Committee meeting will take place over two days on September 19-20.
