Nagoya baseball venue to host cricket

Image: Nagoya Baseball Stadium, Cake6, CC BY-SA 3.0

A baseball stadium in Nagoya (Aichi, Japan) is set to be repurposed to host the cricket competition of the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, the organizers informed.

‘Reuters’ stated that the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has ruled out hosting cricket at an international stadium in the Tochigi prefecture, North of Tokyo (Japan), citing logistical challenges.

The 2026 Asian Games, also known as the 20th Asian Games and Aichi-Nagoya 2026, will be a multisport event to be celebrated around the Aichi Prefecture in Japan from September 19^th-October 4^th, 2026. The prefecture capital Nagoya will be the epicenter of the events.

Kuwait City (Kuwait)-based the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was elected as the President of the OCA on July 8^th, 2023.

‘Reuters’ quoted the OCA Deputy Director General Vinod Kumar Tiwari as stating, “The only problem with the stadium which the JCA (Japan Cricket Association) had offered is the distance. Also, if you’re hosting an international tournament, you need enough hotels around, which are not there at the moment. That’s why we are not considering it. The organizing committee has proposed one of the baseball stadiums (in Nagoya) to be converted into a cricket ground. That looks much more feasible.”

The OCA and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) officials will inspect the venue later this month and Tiwari said the Japanese organizers were keen on having cricket which proved a major success at the Hangzhou Games (2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China, in 2023) last year.

Dubai (UAE)-based the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is a cricket organization which was established in 1983 to promote and develop the sport of cricket in Asia.

Added Tiwari, “Cricket has been included in the 2028 Olympic Games as well. So, the organizing committee is very keen on including that in the 2026 Asian Games as well.”

Cricket featured in Hangzhou but wasn’t part of the 2018 Games in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia.

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