South Korea’s men’s volleyball team became the latest victims of a transport blunder at the Asian Games in Japan, when their bus took them to a venue an hour away from their intended training location.

The team was forced to cancel Monday morning’s training session ahead of their group game against Taiwan later that day. An official from the Korea Volleyball Association told AFP that an organiser-provided shuttle bus took the team to Okazaki instead of its training venue in Inuyama. With too much time lost to turn back, the session was cancelled, and a formal complaint was lodged through the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC).

Despite the disruption, South Korea went on to beat Taiwan 3-1. However, the incident highlights the repeated organisational failures that have frustrated athletes at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, where accommodation and transport for more than 17,000 athletes and officials have been major issues.

Last week, South Korea’s men’s basketball team missed training before their final against Japan when their bus failed to show up. The gaffe did not affect their performance as they won the title. On Monday, Pakistan’s men’s volleyball players were bussed to the wrong arena for their match against Uzbekistan, delaying the game by 45 minutes.

“This is another mismanagement by Japan at the ongoing Asian Games,” Pakistan captain Murad Jehan said in an Instagram video from the bus. A spokesperson for the local organising committee said the Pakistani and South Korean teams had departed from the same accommodation and there was “an error in matching teams to vehicles.” Each boarded a bus heading to the wrong destination.

“We sincerely apologise to both teams for the inconvenience,” the spokesperson said. “We caused great inconvenience, and the organising committee takes this seriously. It is basic, but we will again make sure boarding teams and vehicle destinations are properly checked and displayed, and work to prevent a recurrence.”

Source: www.aljazeera.com