The organizing committee of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games has officially apologized for a transport mishap that led to the cancellation of the South Korean men's volleyball team's training session.
During a press conference held on September 29 at the main press center in Nagoya, the committee stated, "The incident was caused by staff misguiding the players during the boarding process. It was a simple mistake. We take this disruption seriously and apologize for the inconvenience caused."
The transport issue occurred on the morning of September 28. The South Korean men's volleyball team was scheduled to travel to a gym in Inuyama for a morning training session ahead of their second group match against Taiwan later that evening. However, the shuttle bus assigned by the organizing committee headed to the Okazaki Central Park Gymnasium instead of the intended destination in Inuyama.
Traveling from Okazaki back to Inuyama would take an hour, forcing the team to cancel their training and return to their accommodation.
According to Japan's Kyodo News, the mishap occurred when the transport staff mistakenly swapped the vehicles for the South Korean and Pakistani teams. As a result, members of the South Korean team boarded the bus meant for Pakistan, while the Pakistani team ended up on the bus designated for South Korea. This error also delayed the start time of Pakistan's scheduled match by approximately 30 minutes.
The organizing committee promised, "We will ensure thorough verification of the teams boarding the buses and their destinations to prevent a recurrence of such issues in the future."
This event has been marked by ongoing operational disruptions, particularly related to transport. The South Korean delegation has faced multiple transport-related challenges across various sports.
On September 15, the U-23 men's football team experienced issues when the shuttle bus driver took them to a baseball stadium instead of the football field before their match against Qatar. The following day, there were no vehicles assigned for their transport.
Similarly, on September 20, the men's basketball team was unable to conduct their morning training session due to the absence of their shuttle bus on the day of the final against Japan. The baseball team had to hire external buses at their own expense due to unreliable shuttle service.
On September 21, a bus meant to transport the Vietnamese women's volleyball team for their ranking match arrived an hour and 15 minutes late, causing a delay in the start of the game.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.