India mobilizes local community as backup for Asian Games housing

India has mobilized a contingency plan involving approximately 2,000 members of the local Indian community in Nagoya to provide accommodation for its athletes if official housing arrangements for the Asian Games face further disruption. The move comes after initial logistical problems affected parts of the Indian contingent upon their arrival in Japan. According to Indian officials, around 30 to 35 athletes, primarily from the badminton and shooting teams, were initially removed from the official accommodation list by the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organizing Committee. This forced Indian authorities to arrange alternative hotel rooms at short notice. India's Chef de Mission, Sahdev Yadav, stated that the organizers cited a higher-than-expected number of athletes as the reason, a claim Indian officials dispute, noting they had adhered to the invoiced numbers. To prevent a recurrence, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has established a three-layer support system. The first layer consists of two officials stationed at the airport to assist arriving athletes. A second layer of three officials is positioned at the Athlete Welcome Centre.