Indians living in Japan on standby to house Asian Games athletes

Indians living in Japan are standing by to house the country's athletes at the Asian Games if accommodation shortages continue, officials said on Saturday.

Asia's biggest sporting spectacular opens officially in Nagoya and Aichi prefecture on Saturday night, but the build-up to the event has been dogged by problems.

To save money, Japan decided against having an athletes' village, with organisers choosing to put up competitors in a combination of hotel rooms, temporary wooden container-style huts and on a cruise ship.

But many of the 17,000 athletes and officials descending on Japan for the Games have been unhappy with their allocated temporary accommodation, saying rooms have no storage space for kits and the beds are too small.

Spectators react during a performance from Japanese boy band INI ahead of the opening ceremony for the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday. AP

India, who are sending almost 500 athletes to the Asian Games, have moved some from the huts into hotels and have put in place contingency plans should the shortage of suitable rooms get worse as more competitors and support staff arrive in the coming days.

"We have booked hotels for our athletes here," Sahdev Yadav, India's chef de mission at Asian Games and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)'s treasurer, told AFP. "But if the hotel rooms fall short then yes, we have Indian households here on standby to accommodate the athletes. "They are all more than happy to welcome the stars at their homes."

Reports said the Indian embassy in Japan had helped reach out to around 2,000 families in Nagoya, some of whom are prepared to help.

Organisers said the accommodation was safe, cost-effective and comfortable and Japan should be applauded for trying to do something different.

Agence France-Presse