South Korea's basketball team misses pre-final training after transport no-show at Nagoya Asian Games

South Korea's men's basketball team was unable to hold a scheduled training session on the day of the gold-medal game after the vehicle assigned to take them to the practice facility failed to show up.

The team is set to face Japan in the men's basketball final of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya at 7:40 p.m. Sunday.

According to basketball officials, the team had planned to warm up with shooting drills and other exercises at a separate gymnasium before the final, but the vehicle scheduled to arrive around 10 a.m. never appeared, with no explanation given.

Stranded at their accommodation, the team had no choice but to cancel the planned session.

South Korea reached the final for the first time in 12 years, having last done so at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, and had been building momentum toward a gold medal.

The incident came at a particularly awkward moment, with the opponent in the final being host nation Japan.

The 2026 Asian Games have been dogged by organizational complaints throughout the competition.

Criticism has mounted over a persistent shortage of accommodation for athletes and repeated failures to arrange transportation for official schedules. On Friday, the North Korean national anthem was played instead of South Korea's "Aegukga" at a men's hockey match.

The Korea Basketball Association plans to file a formal complaint through the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee over the incident.

"The players will stay calm and focus on preparing for the final in the time remaining," a Korea Basketball Association official said.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee had previously lodged complaints with the organizing committee over a welcome ceremony at the athletes' village that featured a performance depicting Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and over the playing of the North Korean anthem in place of "Aegukga" at the men's hockey venue.