Cricket Faces Accommodation Dilemma at Asian Games 2023

In Aichi-Nagoya this autumn, India’s cricketers may find themselves living just outside the Asian Games bubble – but very much inside its spotlight.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been handed a clear choice by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA): accept the official accommodation offered by the Games organisers, or arrange everything on its own – and shoulder every logistical burden that comes with it.

No middle path. No special carve-out.

IOA draws the line on special treatment

IOA CEO Raghuram Iyer has made the stance plain. Cricket will not be treated as a separate class within a 36-sport Indian contingent.

BCCI officials have raised concerns over the designated team hotels in Nagoya, which fall short of the five-star comfort Indian cricketers are used to on bilateral tours and ICC events. The men’s side has been allotted the three-star APA Hotel Nagoya Ekimae. The women, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur, are down to stay at the four-star Meitetsu Grand Hotel.

Both properties tick the basic boxes: decent amenities, proximity, tournament-ready infrastructure. What they don’t offer is luxury. Rooms will be on a twin-sharing basis, a significant departure from the single-occupancy norm that India’s top cricketers enjoy.

Iyer has been firm that the IOA’s responsibility runs to the entire Indian delegation, not one sport.

He revealed that BCCI CEO Hemang Amin has already opened discussions, with the Board now considering sending an advance team to Japan to inspect the hotels, the cricket venue and other facilities. The IOA has no objection to that. But the message is clear: if the BCCI decides to step away from the official setup, it must run its own show.

Accommodation. Food. Local transport. Daily logistics. Ensuring players reach the ground well before the first ball.

All on the Board.

Tight schedule, tighter margins

The first test is logistical, not tactical, and it lands on the women’s team.

Harmanpreet’s side returns from the Asia Cup in Dubai on September 13 and is slated to fly to Nagoya the very next day. There is barely time to breathe, let alone acclimatise. Their Asian Games campaign starts straight in the quarterfinals on September 18 and wraps up by September 22.

The men, led by Shreyas Iyer, operate on a slightly looser schedule but face the same structural challenge. They travel later, departing for Japan on September 21. Like the women, they also begin at the quarterfinal stage, with their matches running from September 28 to October 4, when they are due to return.

With staggered arrivals and overlapping commitments, the BCCI has to look at the bigger picture. Any decision to move away from official hotels must work for two squads on different timelines, under the same Games umbrella.

An advance team will head to Japan early next week to take stock on the ground. Their report will shape the Board’s call.

A city under strain

The BCCI’s options are not limitless.

Aichi-Nagoya is already stretched. Organisers originally planned for about 15,000 athletes and coaches. That number has swelled towards 17,000, forcing the use of additional hotels, mobile accommodation and even the Costa Serena cruise ship to house the influx.

If the BCCI rejects the official hotels and looks elsewhere, it will have to find suitable properties in a city where beds are at a premium. Any alternative must match the team’s requirements without compromising on travel time or access to the venue.

And even if cricket chooses to live apart, it cannot operate outside the system.

The Board will need to formally communicate its decision through the IOA to the Asian Games organisers. Security, accreditation and access controls will remain governed by Games protocols. Only accredited personnel will be allowed into the team hotels, whether official or privately booked.

There is another layer: anti-doping.

WADA and the International Testing Agency (ITA) must know precisely where the players are staying so they can conduct random tests. Any off-site accommodation will have to be fully integrated into that framework.

IOA backs BCCI’s due diligence

For the IOA, the principle is simple: equal treatment, shared standards, athlete welfare.

Iyer has welcomed the BCCI’s plan to send an advance party to Japan, calling it the right way to evaluate conditions before committing. The IOA, he stressed, wants every Indian athlete – across all sports – to enjoy a comfortable stay and a smooth experience in Japan, but within the structure laid down for the entire contingent.

Cricket, in other words, can ask questions and seek solutions. It just cannot demand a different rulebook.

Los Angeles 2028: a very different picture

Even as Japan grapples with hotel allocations and room categories, a contrasting image is forming nearly 9,000 kilometres away.

Cricket’s Olympic return at Los Angeles 2028 is already being mapped out in detail. Iyer recently joined a joint IOA–Sports Authority of India (SAI) delegation on a week-long visit to Los Angeles, meeting stakeholders and walking through venues across multiple sports, including cricket.

The vision there is sharper, more contained, almost purpose-built.

Cricket’s LA28 venue, the newly constructed Knight Riders Cricket Ground at the Fairplex complex in Pomona, sits right next to the Sheraton Fairplex Suites & Conference Center. That is where the cricket teams are expected to stay, creating a tight, self-contained performance environment with minimal commute and fewer variables.

Major League Cricket fixtures are expected to give the ground an early competitive workout, bedding in the playing surface and operations well before the Olympics arrive.

The planning philosophy is clear: take logistics off the athletes’ minds so they can focus purely on performance. Iyer has underlined that this kind of long-range, athlete-centric planning is being pursued at an unprecedented level.

A historic meeting before the Games

Before all of that – before the Nagoya debates and the Olympic build-up – India and Japan will share a quieter but significant cricketing moment.

On September 22, their men’s teams will meet in a T20I for the Suzuki Cup, marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. For India, the match doubles as valuable match practice in Japanese conditions ahead of the Asian Games.

For Japan, it is a rare chance to test themselves against a global giant.

For cricket, it is another small step into new territory – a sport used to five-star comfort, now being asked to prove it can also thrive in the stripped-back, shared spaces of a multi-sport Games.