Nagoya, September 2026 — Fresh controversy has erupted over the accommodation standards at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. A viral video shared by a Team Singapore triathlete revealing cardboard beds and bicycle stands has once again put the organizers’ unconventional infrastructure under heavy public scrutiny.
Cardboard Frames and Bike Stands in the Spotlight
In a clip that quickly gained widespread attention online, Singaporean triathlete Luke Chua and teammate Tey Yi Jun lifted their bedding to show that their bed frames were constructed entirely out of thick corrugated cardboard. The duo also revealed that their room’s bicycle stands were made of the exact same lightweight material.
While Chua took a lighthearted approach—joking that “everything here is made of cardboard”—the visual added fuel to an ongoing debate regarding the quality of living conditions provided for participating athletes.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ AICHI-NAGOYA 2026 HOUSING MODEL │
├──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┤
│ Accommodation Type │ Usage & Delegations │
├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ Costa Serena Cruise Liner│ ~4,000 Athletes & Officials │
│ Wooden Container Huts │ ~2,000 Athletes & Support Staff │
│ Partner Hotels & Airbnbs │ Delegations with Specific Needs │
│ Temporary Cardboard Beds │ Recycled Furnishings Across Units│
└──────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┘
The Cost-Cutting “Village-Free” Experiment
The cardboard furnishings are part of a broader, cost-conscious decision by the local organizing committee to forego building a traditional, centralized Athletes’ Village.
Instead, organizers opted to house more than 17,000 incoming competitors across a hybrid network of:
- An Italian cruise liner (Costa Serena) docked at Kinjo Pier.
- Temporary, shipping-container-style wooden huts near the port.
- Standard hotels scattered across the Aichi prefecture.
Organizers defended the setup as a commitment to sustainability and budget management, referencing the similar cardboard bed frames used during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Escalating Athlete Complaints Across Delegations
The cardboard revelation follows a wave of frustration from multiple national contingents arriving in Japan.
South Korean team officials publicly slammed the temporary container setups as “the worst ever,” citing cramped spaces where basketball players over two meters tall struggled to fit on standard frames. Other contingents reported significant check-in delays, missing room records, and leaky plumbing following heavy rainfall in Nagoya.
Bottom Line
While organizers maintain that floating cruise ships and modular cardboard beds offer an eco-friendly blueprint for future mega-events, the persistent logistical hiccups have left athletes questioning whether sustainability has come at the expense of fundamental athletic comfort.
