NAGOYA, Japan – Japan is traditionally seen as a reliable host for major sporting events but an Asian Games dogged by organisational woes has tarnished that image and raised questions over future bids, experts say.

The Games in Aichi-Nagoya saw a catalogue of mishaps, from athletes bussed to the wrong venues to the North Korean national anthem played for the South Korean hockey team.

There were not enough beds for the over 17,000 athletes and officials, a bigger number than the Olympics.

Countries complained of being stranded for up to six hours at the airport on arrival.

Teams were not shy in criticising the local organisers.

Ryu Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee, said: “If I were to give them a grade, it would be an F.”

Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) president Seiko Hashimoto admitted that “there were many problems”, but said the country wants to host more international events.

‘Harsh criticism’

Hirokazu Arai, a professor specialising in sports psychology, told AFP that Japan may struggle to escape the shadow of the Asian Games for some time to come.

“If Japan were to bid for the Olympics again, trust in Japan may have fallen and it might be harder to win a bid,” he said.

“And within Japan, people may take the view that if these kinds of things are going to happen, we don’t need the Olympics.”

Many in Japan have questioned the value of hosting major sporting events as they grapple with the fallout from the graft-stained and pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics.

Cost overruns, corruption and Covid all tainted the public’s memory of the Games, which took place largely behind closed doors in 2021, a year later than planned.

Japan was praised by some, however, for getting the Game...