Asian Games 2026: Games to be held in Aichi-Nagoya province of Japan, first time in the history of sports

Players participating in the 2026 Asian Games, hosted by the Aichi-Nagoya province of Japan, will not be given a sports village for the first time in the Asian Games; instead, arrangements for the players are to be made via hotels and cruise ships. Former Japan Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda announced here on Sunday that there will not be any Olympic village in the continental event to be co-hosted by Aichi province and Nagoya city. He was speaking during the 44th General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia.

Giving information on the preparations for the Games Takeda said, "We will not have a sports village as the Games will be held in two provinces. Instead, we are trying our utmost to accommodate the athletes and dignitaries in hotels and cruise ships." Takeda, the vice president of the 2026 Asian Games, said, "We have arranged cruise ships for 4,000 athletes and officials besides hotel rooms."

However, many members of the OCA, such as Kuwait and Palestine, did not like the idea mooted by Takeda. They showed concern and said the move would not go in tune with the spirit of the Games. Even newly elected OCA president Randhir Singh is not amused by the idea.

OCA president Randhir Singh said, "We should live in one place so the sports village is most important to keep the youth together. The life of the sports village is most important in such an event."

Randhir indicated that the OCA is considering reducing the number of participants in team as well as individual events. "Last time 15,0000 athletes participated in 40 sports. Last time there were 32 teams in football but this time we would like to limit this number to something like the top eight teams," he said. "This will happen in individual events as well. We need to limit the numbers. There cannot be more than two or three representations," he said.