NAGOYA — Widespread transport delays left numerous athletes and officials from various countries and regions stranded on Wednesday at Aichi Sky Expo, a venue next to Chubu Centrair International Airport, ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, reported Xinhua.

Many arriving delegations waited hours for transfers to their official accommodation, after the on-site system failed to find information for a large number of athletes, leaving them unable to board the pre-arranged shuttle buses. No official explanation was given for the problem.

A group of Chinese delegation members, including several national teams, arrived at the airport around 12.15 pm local time. Some of their information could not be found in the system, preventing the group from boarding the shuttle buses.

The disruption affected delegations from multiple countries and regions. A coach with India’s rowing team said his squad landed at 10 am but waited more than four hours for transport, with teams that arrived even earlier facing similar delays. Only two of the 21 members of China’s gymnastics team could be found in the on-site system, according to a delegation member, leaving the entire team stranded.

Exhausted athletes waited for hours at Aichi Sky Expo, just outside the airport terminals. Many Chinese athletes used the downtime to train, laying out yoga mats to stay warmed up.

“No one has told us the exact departure time. Even staff and volunteers have no clear answers,” a Chinese delegation official said.

The waiting continued through the afternoon. Kazakhstan’s shooting team waited more than two hours without any official explanation. A volunteer said the chaos appeared to stem from poor coordination between departments.