A Sri Lankan official said this week that some of Asia’s top teams had raised doubts over facilities and accommodation at the Games, which are taking place in Nagoya and the wider Aichi area from September 19. Organisers said last week that accommodation was already stretched to the limit after the number of Asian Games athletes ballooned to 17,000.
Cricketers at this month’s Asian Games in Japan will have better accommodation than athletes from many other sports, the head of Japanese cricket said Wednesday, after concerns were raised about a lack of five-star hotels for players. Cricket is a minor sport in Japan and games will be played at a new purpose-built ground with reports of tents serving as dressing rooms and distant washroom facilities. There is no dedicated athletes’ village at the Games, with organisers instead relying on cabins in a cruise ship, rooms in temporary wooden containers and hotels.
Media reports in India said the country’s cricket board was unhappy with arrangements and might send a second-string squad after originally naming 15 players led by Shreyas Iyer and including 15-year-old rising star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Naoki Alex Miyaji, the CEO of the Japan Cricket Association, told AFP that the two bodies had been discussing accommodation options “for a long time”. “The participating teams in cricket are being offered hotel accommodation,” Miyaji said on Wednesday. Miyaji said that Japanese organisers “only had 17 months to prepare and had to start from scratch” for cricket at the Games. He said they had been working “to ensure that the best facilities are provided within the limited timeline and facility restrictions”.
The cricket tournament is being run by the Asian Games organising committee in collaboration with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
