India Replicates Asian Games Village With Shipping Container Housing: ‘It Was Awkward But…’

Last Updated:September 04, 2026, 14:09 IST

SAI has introduced shipping container-style housing to help athletes adapt to the unique accommodation they will experience at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

Seema Kaliramna stands at the door of India’s first container-based accommodation for sportspersons preparing to participate in the upcoming Asian Games (Picture credit: AFP)

The Sports Authority of India hopes its ‘unique idea’ of housing athletes in shipping containers ahead of the Asian Games will help them in acclimatising to the situation in Aichi-Nagoya, where several athletes will be housed in such containers in a bid to cut costs.

Aichi-Nagoya will host the Games from Saturday, September 19 to Sunday, October 4. But in an effort to cut costs, organisers will not provide an athletes’ village. Instead, more than 17,000 athletes and officials, more than the number at the Olympics, will be accommodated on a cruise ship and in hotels.

A third accommodation option will also be available: temporary wooden units expected to house around 2,000 participants. In preparation for the Games, the SAI on Friday unveiled similar facilities at its athlete headquarters in Patiala and Bengaluru.

“These containers are like a simulator. It is a unique concept, as never in the Asian Games or Olympics has this kind of accommodation been used. So specifically, we created this to make sure that our athletes don’t feel the shock and get claustrophobic when they are given such accommodation in Japan,” Vineet Kumar, deputy director general of SAI, said while speaking to AFP.

The Indian units are around 40 feet long and eight feet wide. Each is equipped with four beds, two air conditioners, a refrigerator, storage tables, a toilet, a washroom and a washing machine.

Pictures of the cabins in Japan show that they have similar amenities.

“A player’s psychology is so strong that if there is any problem with such logistics, then their level of competition gets affected and we took care of this. All the athletes have enjoyed their stay and it was like a miracle for them to stay in it,” Kumar said.

Kumar credited Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya with the ‘unique idea’, saying that the accommodation was designed to replicate as closely as possible the conditions athletes would experience in Japan.

Two-time Asian Games shot put champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor is one of the athletes to experience the accommodation in Patiala.

“It was awkward initially, but after having spent a night, I got comfortable because they have equipped it with everything that I need. Even the rooms in Tokyo and Paris weren’t that big,” Toor said.

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