South Korea's men's volleyball team was taken to the wrong venue by an organiser-provided bus on Monday, forcing it to cancel a morning training session hours before a group match at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. It is the latest in a series of transport failures at the event, which has drawn growing complaints from athletes.
According to a Korea Volleyball Association official, the shuttle took the team to Okazaki instead of its training venue in Inuyama. The two locations are about an hour apart by car, leaving too little time to turn back. The association lodged a formal complaint with the organisers through the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. That evening the team beat Chinese Taipei 3-1.
The same day, Pakistan's men's volleyball players were driven to the wrong arena for their match against Uzbekistan, which delayed the game by 45 minutes. Pakistan captain Murad Jehan called it "another mismanagement by Japan" in an Instagram video recorded on the bus. A spokesperson for the local organising committee said both teams had left from the same accommodation and that there was "an error in matching teams to vehicles", so each boarded a bus heading to the wrong destination. She apologised to both teams, said the committee took the matter seriously, and promised to check and display boarding arrangements and destinations more carefully.
South Korean teams have been hit repeatedly. The men's basketball team missed its shootaround before the final against host Japan on September 20 because its shuttle never arrived; the team went on to win the title. On September 15, the football team reached the stadium in Nagoya about 30 minutes late for its match against Qatar after the driver got lost, and its recovery session the next day was delayed by another bus mix-up.
The problems point to wider strain in organising the Games, which are being held in Aichi and Nagoya in central Japan. Accommodation and transport for more than 17,000 athletes and officials have been among the main sources of frustration. The Asian Games are the continent's largest multi-sport event, and smooth logistics matter because even small disruptions to warm-ups and training can affect athletes' preparation. So far, the sources report that the mishaps have not changed the results of the affected South Korean teams, but the recurring errors have left competitors and officials frustrated.