Nagoya: Organisers of next month's Asian Games in Japan have informed late additions to the event that they must secure their own accommodation, citing severe budget constraints and a total lack of physical space to handle surging participant numbers.

Initially, around 15,000 athletes and officials were slated to attend the Games, scheduled to take place across Nagoya and the broader Aichi area from September 19 to October 4. That baseline already surpassed the scale of the Summer Olympics; however, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) last week raised the expected figure to 17,000—comprising 11,000 athletes and 6,000 officials—following the last-minute inclusion of teqball and padel to the sports program in March.

Unlike traditional major sporting events, the host region lacks a dedicated athletes' village. Instead, organisers are utilising a mix of commercial hotels, temporary wooden container housing, and a hired cruise ship, the Italian vessel Costa Serena, to house participants. The ship will accommodate between 4,000 and 5,000 athletes, while another 2,000 athletes and officials will stay in the shipping container-style huts. The remaining contingents will be distributed across hotels, including some as far away as Tokyo, where swimming, diving, and equestrian events are set to take place.

Following reports that the local organising committee requested the OCA to trim delegate numbers, leadership made it clear that latecomers must handle their own logistics.

"The host city agreement specifies a delegation of 15,000 people," said Organising Committee President Hideaki Omura, who is also the governor of Aichi Prefecture. "We have not set aside a budget for any more than that. There is simply nowhere for them to stay."

Omura added that organisers have "neither the manpower nor the budget to make the necessary arrangements" for the excess entries. "If they still wish to come, they will have to make their own arrangements," he warned.

Echoing these concerns, Nagoya Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa, acting chairman of the organising committee, emphasised the operational strain on Wednesday. "It is difficult to accommodate this number, both in terms of time and physical capacity," Hirosawa noted. "From a cost perspective we are operating on a tight budget and it is difficult."

The OCA has not yet responded to repeated requests for comment. (AFP)