Team India's cricketers are unhappy with the hotel assigned to them for the Asian Games in Japan, and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has now made its position clear to the BCCI. The IOA says it will not seek separate accommodation for cricket, though the board is free to make its own arrangements if it wishes. This was confirmed publicly by IOA chief executive officer Raghuram Iyer.
Want a different hotel? BCCI must handle the cost and logistics
Iyer said that if the BCCI decides its players should stay outside the official Asian Games hotels in Aichi-Nagoya, the board will have to arrange the hotel, food and transport entirely on its own, and will also be responsible for ensuring its players reach the venue on time. In other words, the BCCI is free to make separate arrangements for its cricketers, but the full logistical responsibility for that choice will rest with the board itself.
IOA says every athlete across 36 sports gets the same treatment
Iyer stressed that the IOA's job is to ensure equal treatment for the entire Indian contingent across all 36 sports at the Games, and that singling out one sport for extra facilities is not part of its policy. He said BCCI CEO Hemang Amin had reached out to the IOA and that the two sides have already had a detailed conversation on the issue. The BCCI is also considering sending an advance team to Japan to assess the facilities on offer, and the IOA has no objection to this. According to Iyer, once that assessment is done, the BCCI can decide for itself whether to use the facilities provided by the organisers or make its own arrangements. "No one is given VIP treatment," he said, underlining that the IOA treats every sport, every athlete, every coach and the entire delegation the same way.
Which hotel each team got, and what is really fuelling the row
According to the report, the Indian men's cricket team has been allotted the three-star APA Hotel Nagoya Ekimae, while the women's team has been given the four-star Meitetsu Grand Hotel. Both hotels are a notch below the five-star category that Indian cricketers are typically used to. On top of that, the rooms are on a twin-sharing basis, meaning two players will have to share a single room, and this arrangement has emerged as the biggest flashpoint in the entire episode.
The BCCI has not yet issued an official statement on whether it will opt for separate accommodation or go along with the facilities the IOA has offered. Only after the advance team's assessment will it become clear whether the players stay on in these Nagoya hotels or the board arranges an alternative at its own expense.
