South Korea’s top sports organization says it receives a formal apology from the organizers of the Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games following a series of event mishaps during the recently concluded competition. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) says it received a letter from the organizing committee under the name of chief Hideaki Omura.
One cited incident occurs during the men’s football medal ceremony at Toyota Stadium near Toyota, east of Nagoya. After South Korea beats Japan 1-0 to win gold, the national flag is not raised on time and does not reach the top of the pole by the end of the anthem. Organizers attribute the problem to a rope knot caught in the flagpole’s pulley and say stadium operations staff did not properly check the setup before the ceremony.
The KSOC characterizes the apology as part of a broader pattern of problems that South Korean teams faced during the Games. Other outlets report additional operational disruptions involving Korean athletes, including issues that affected team preparation, although the specific details vary by outlet.
