Overview
- Organisers say every accredited athlete and official has been assigned lodgings as the Games opened on Saturday, Sept. 19, with about 4,000 people on the cruise liner Costa Serena, roughly 2,000 in temporary wooden or container units and the remainder in hotels across Aichi prefecture.
- Several national teams have reported practical problems with rooms and logistics, citing issues such as beds that are too short, shipping‑container style hut quality, accreditation delays and transport gaps, and some delegations have arranged private rentals like Airbnb.
- Local organisers decided not to build a traditional athletes’ village to limit costs and avoid post‑Games unused infrastructure after planning based on about 15,000 participants was outpaced by late additions and registrations that pushed numbers above 17,000.
- OCA director‑general Husain Al‑Musallam publicly backed Japan’s mixed housing model on Sept. 18–19, rejected proposals to cap athlete numbers and argued the approach could be a model for future hosts seeking to cut expenses.
- Federations are conducting on‑site inspections and warning that accommodation and transport problems could affect team selections, and the debate over scale, cost and legacy will shape planning for Doha 2030 and countries interested in hosting after that.