Nagoya, Japan, September 20, 2024: The Olympic Council of Asia and Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee held a press conference at the Nagoya Hilton Hotel on Friday afternoon to report on the second OCA/AINAGOC Coordination Committee meeting on September 19-20.
The Chair of the OCA Coordination Committee, OCA Vice President Timothy Fok, thanked the Governor of Aichi Prefecture, AINAGOC President Hideaki Ohmura, and the Mayor of Nagoya City, Takashi Kawamura, for their presence during the two-day visit.
“Our meetings were very extensive and covered every aspect of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in 2026,” he said.
“The Asian Games will cover more than five cities and we expect between 10,000 and 12,000 athletes to take part in 41 sports,” he said.
Mr. Fok said the Games slogan of “Imagine One Asia” would showcase Aichi prefecture and Nagoya city as a centre of innovation and culture.
“Tomorrow (Saturday) we will have the two-year countdown ceremony and this will be a very important milestone on our historical journey.”
The Vice Chair of the OCA Coordination Committee, Mr. Tayyab Ikram, said the operations and management of the recent Paris Olympic Games had been discussed in order to compare best practices. The primary focus of the OCA Coordination Committee was on providing the best conditions for the athletes, he stressed.
Logistics, the movement of the athletes, transportation, safety and the potential of a cyber attack on a multi-sports events were also discussed.
Mr. Ikram added that the sports programme for the 2026 Asian Games was still flexible and discussions were ongoing due to the fact that some sports will use the Asiad as a qualifying competition for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
On the subject of accommodation, Mr. Ikram pointed out that Aichi-Nagoya would be a new model for the Asian Games as there would be no Athletes’ Village.
In the absence of a centralised village, AINAGOC are planning to use a cruise ship with a capacity of 4,000 in the Port of Nagoya, as well as hotels in city clusters for the remainder of the 7,000 Nagoya-based athletes.
However, the cruise ship capacity was deemed to be not enough, and AINAGOC will draw up a revised plan for athletes’ accommodation by October 31 in order to provide the athletes with a better Games experience and a centralised area for interaction and exchange.
Mr. Ikram said that the sustainability, legacy and visibility of the Games were also discussed, along with the involvement of the people of Nagoya and throughout Aichi.