Cricketers competing at this month’s Asian Games in Japan are set to receive better accommodation than athletes in many other sports, the head of Japanese cricket said Wednesday, after concerns were raised about the lack of five-star hotels for players.
A Sri Lankan official said this week that some of Asia’s leading cricket teams had expressed concerns about accommodation and facilities at the Games, which begin Sept. 19 in Nagoya and the wider Aichi region.
Cricket remains a minor sport in Japan, and matches will be played at a newly built, purpose-designed venue. Reports have raised concerns about the facilities, including tents being used as dressing rooms and washrooms located some distance from the playing area.
Unlike previous Asian Games, the event will not have a dedicated athletes’ village. Organizers are instead accommodating competitors in cabins aboard a cruise ship, rooms in temporary wooden structures and hotels across the region.
Organizers said last week that accommodation was already stretched to the limit after the number of Asian Games athletes rose to 17,000.
By comparison, about 11,000 athletes competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The cricket tournament is being run by the Asian Games organizing committee in collaboration with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
Naoki Alex Miyaji, CEO of the Japan Cricket Association, told Agence France-Presse (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 Wednesday.
"Many other sports are being accommodated in much more limited facilities, such as a cruise ship or container hotels."
Matches will be played at Korogi Sports Park, a converted baseball field about a 40-minute train ride from central Nagoya.
Media reports in India said the country's cricket board was unhappy with the arrangements and might send a second-string squad after initially naming a 15-player team led by Shreyas Iyer and including 15-year-old rising star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Miyaji said Japanese organizers "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."
"Despite being temporary, the facilities will provide as comfortable a space as possible for the players and officials," he said.
Miyaji said the pitch, which is being prepared by the curator of the 35,000-capacity Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka, would be of a high standard.
"From what I have seen, the playing surface and field will be the best seen in cricket's inclusion in the Asian Games," he added.
