S. Korea sports body receives apology from Asian Games organizers over mishaps

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- The top South Korean sports organization said Wednesday it received a formal apology from the organizers of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games over a series of mishaps that occurred during the recently concluded competition.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said the Asiad organizing committee sent a letter the previous day under the name of its chief, Hideaki Omura, to apologize for an incident during the medal ceremony for the men's football tournament Saturday at Toyota Stadium in Toyota, east of the main host city Nagoya.

South Korea defeated the home team Japan 1-0 for the gold medal, but during the victory ceremony, the South Korean national flag, Taegeukgi, was not raised on time and did not reach the top of the pole by the end of the national anthem.

The organizers said a rope knot had been caught in the pulley on the pole and the operations staff at the stadium had not properly checked the setup prior to the ceremony.

It was only the latest in a series of issues that South Korean athletes dealt with throughout the event. The men's basketball team, for instance, had to cancel its shootaround the morning of the final against Japan on Sept. 20 because a shuttle bus that had been assigned to the team did not show up. South Korea later beat Japan for the gold medal.

In a separate email, the Asiad organizing committee also apologized for the inconvenience it had caused the South Korean delegation in the areas of transport and protocol, the KSOC added.

"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," the KSOC said.