Asiad 2026: Cramped Costa Serena rooms, allocation mess trouble athletes

Rooms meant for two are being shared by three, complained some Indian athletes lodged at the much-criticised Costa Serena cruise ship for the Asian Games as even the host nation's competitors looked for alternate accommodation amid the organisational chaos that has rocked the build-up to the mega-event here.

Barely two days before the opening ceremony, local media reports suggested that some Japanese athletes are looking for alternative arrangements after cases of male and female players being allocated shared rooms emerged.

"There have been cases where coaches, team officials, and athletes have been assigned to the same room.

There are also situations where room assignments were made purely based on the numbers, such as assigning five twin rooms for a group of five men and five women," Japan's deputy chef de mission Hisashi Mizutori said at a media interaction here.

"While the numbers match on paper, practically it creates challenging situations such as men and women being assigned