'Embarrassing situation': Pakistani volleyball team reaches wrong venue for Asian Games clash; match gets delayed by 45 minutes

The official bus carrying Pakistan’s men’s volleyball team arrived at the wrong venue amid ongoing organisational issues at the Asian Games in Japan on Monday.

What happened?

Pakistan's group game with Uzbekistan had to be pushed back 45 minutes because of the mishap.


The bus transporting the Pakistan players was supposed to go to an arena in Okazaki, southeast of Games host city Nagoya.

However, the vehicle mistakenly took them to another Games venue staging volleyball about an hour's drive away.

"As a result, the team arrived late at the correct competition venue, and we were required to delay the match by 45 minutes," said an official Games communique.

Pakistan's volleyball captain shares details

In a video on social media platform Instagram, Pakistan volleyball captain Murad Jehan said that his team were taken to the wrong venue ahead of their Pool A match against Uzbekistan. "We have a very important match and the bus driver doesn't know which gymnasium we are going to play," he said in a video from the bus.

"He took a wrong way and came to a wrong gymnasium and now we are short of time. It's an embarrassing situation," he added. "We did not expect this from Japan. This should not have happened."

Jehan said the detour left the squad with no time for a proper warm-up, forcing players to change into their playing kit on the moving bus.

"Really disappointing situation. This is not the only mismanagement that athletes are facing here," he said, adding food was not always available to athletes at dining areas following their training sessions.

Watch video here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Murad Jehan (@the_professor.15)

Pakistan won the match 3-0.

It is more embarrassment for red-faced organisers of the Games, where have there have been numerous complaints about the accommodation and transport services.

Teams have found that buses sometimes arrive at incorrect times, or even not at all.

South Korea were left furious after the bus that was supposed to take them to light practice before their men's basketball final against hosts Japan failed to turn up.

Asian Games reacts to complaints

Ahead of the mixup, Asian Games organisers in Japan said Sunday they had been caught off guard by complaints about some of the accommodation and promised athletes coming for the final week a more comfortable stay.

In a break from previous Games, organisers in Aichi-Nagoya did not construct a traditional athletes' village in order to save money.

Instead, the more than 17,000 athletes and officials, a greater number than the Olympics, are staying in hotels, temporary wooden units and on a cruise ship.

Some teams have complained about the shipping container-style units, saying the rooms are cramped and the beds too short.

South Korean officials said that the container hut rooms were the "worst ever", with beds too small for their country's basketball team.

There are 200 huts, which will house a total of 2,000 athletes over the duration of the Games, with three or four athletes in each unit.

Athletes eat in a large communal dining room, with a shop, medical centre, fitness centre and a space to interact with other athletes on the site.