The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has heard concerns over a lack of five-star hotel accommodation for players at the upcoming Asian Games in Japan, a Sri Lankan official said Monday.
The men's and women's T20 cricket will be played at Japan's newly built cricket ground in Nisshin starting September 17. But reports of tents serving as dressing rooms for players, distant washroom facilities and lack of top-class accommodation for cricketers have raised eyebrows.
"There are some concerns with regard to the quality of accommodation being provided and also with regard to the logistics," Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Prakash Schaffter told reporters in Colombo. He said the ACC executive committee had discussed the Asian Games with "some degree of detail" at its recently concluded meeting in Bangkok.
Member states had agreed to send representatives to examine the grounds and other logistical arrangements, but hoped the tournament would still go ahead, he said. "There is a lack of available five-star rooms. Cricketers are generally provided with five-star accommodation," he said, adding that the host city did not have luxury hotels to accommodate all athletes and spectators.
However, he said the ground prepared for the T20 series was suitable for play. Media reports in India said the country's cricket board was unhappy with the Asian Games' arrangements for the tournament and looking to send a second-string team.
India have named a 15-member squad led by Shreyas Iyer and including teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the Asiad. The Bangladesh Cricket Board said the member boards of the ACC are looking at the concerns regarding player facilities at the Asian Games.
"The cricket part of the Asian Games will be looked after by the Asian Cricket Council," BCB cricket operations manager Shahriar Nafees said. "The individual boards have already discussed it at the ACC forum, and they will take a collective decision on the issue."
