Have the Incheon Asian Games Become A Fiasco?

According to this quite detailed post over at the Marmot’s Hole the Incheon Asian Games has moved well passed just being a fiasco:

 1.Stadiums getting blackouts
2. Athlete’s lunch boxes found with salmonella
3. Volunteers asking for athletes signatures and making them late to their events – because they got 1 hour of training 1 week before the Games started.
4. 20% of interpreters quitting (because they had to pay for their own transport to and from the Games),
5. Athletes’ rooms not having fans or A/C,
6. Athletes’ rooms crammed with three beds and cramming athletes in them because they don’t have enough rooms
7. No mosquito screens for the rooms, subpar quality food for the athletes – partially caused by the fact that the majority of the cooks are college kids majoring in food science
8. Beach volleyball site doesn’t have changing rooms
9. Badminton stadium has A/C with strong wind that got the complaints of all athletes including Korean ones
10. Thailand baseball team had to practice in the dark because the lights weren’t on

You can read more about the issues the Asian Games are having at the link, but it appears the fiasco will continue all the way through the closing ceremony:

Organizers of the Incheon Asian Games face a daunting challenge ― bringing Asia’s biggest sporting event to a close in a way that makes people forget the opening ceremony many believe was the worst ever.

“We have noted the criticism we received after the opening ceremony and applied it to the direction of the closing ceremony,” Jang Jin, artistic director of the ceremony, said during a news conference at the Main Press Center in Incheon, Tuesday.

But he seems to have few options available due to his limited budget and other problems.

Jang said because of the athletic events at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium that will run until the end of the Games, “We will not be able to push through with the final rehearsal that had been scheduled for Friday. We ask for your understanding.”

According to Jang and chief organizer Im Kwon-taek, the closing ceremony will include performances by the National Dance Company of Korea and the National Gugak Center, a countdown using filmed shots of athletes’ shirt numbers and AD cards, a taekwondo performance and a concert by boy band Big Bang.

But most people remain unconvinced that the closing ceremony will be an improvement from the opening ceremony, which was likened by the public and foreign media to a hallyu (Korean wave) concert or film festival, featuring more celebrities than sports stars.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but according to the article the opening ceremony had famed Korean actress Lee Young-ae light the cauldron which is really odd considering usually famous athletes usually light it.  Now for those who attend the closing ceremony they will be subject to a Big Bang concert.

The Incheon Asian Games cost only $2 billion to put on compared to $20 billion the Chinese paid in 2010 to host them in Guangzou.  So obviously the Koreans are getting what they paid for.  I would think for the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that the Koreans will be reaching much deeper into their pockets to put on a better event since the whole world will be watching.