Toyota:The top South Korean sports body announced it received a formal apology from the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games organizers following several mishaps during the recently concluded event.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) reported that the apology was issued by the organizing committee under the name of its chief, Hideaki Omura. The incident prompting the apology occurred during the medal ceremony for the men's football tournament at Toyota Stadium in Toyota, where the South Korean national flag failed to be raised on time.
During the ceremony, South Korea defeated Japan 1-0 to win the gold medal. However, the national flag, Taegeukgi, remained stuck at the bottom of the flagpole and did not reach the top by the end of the national anthem. The organizers attributed the issue to a rope knot caught in the pulley, which had not been checked properly by the stadium's operations staff.
This was not the only issue faced by South Korean athletes. The men's basketball team encountered a problem when their shuttle bus failed to arrive on the morning of their final against Japan on September 20, forcing them to cancel their shootaround. Despite this, South Korea went on to secure the gold medal.
The organizing committee also sent a separate email apologizing for the inconvenience caused to the South Korean delegation in terms of transport and protocol.
The KSOC stated, "We will continue to work with international sports organizations and also offer our suggestions to ensure our athletes will be treated appropriately in an optimal environment at future sports competitions."