MANILA, Philippines — A member of the women's national football team took to her personal Facebook account to lament problems with their accommodations for the SEA Games.
In a Facebook post, Malditas defender Hali Long recounted how she waited more than two hours to be accommodated for her hotel room despite arriving on time.
"Arrived [at] our SEAG hotel at 11:30 am. Rooms weren’t ready yet, so we ate lunch while they fixed our rooms. Instead of 2 per room, we’ve adjusted to 4-5 per room," she narrated.
"It’s now 2:15 pm and the rooms aren’t ready. They moved us to a function room, so we wouldn’t crowd the lobby for other arriving teams."
It's unclear which hotel the Malditas are staying in although the Philippine Sea Games Organizing Committee has indicated that there are football teams billeted at Hotel Jen and Century Park Manila, both in Manila.
This comes after two separate logistical mishaps where the football team from Timor-Leste was brought by organizers to the wrong hotel, while members of the Cambodian team similarly had to wait for their own hotel rooms in a conference room.
"Sad that we’re the host team and this is how we’re being treated," she said. "I can’t imagine how other countries must feel."
Both the PHISGOC and the Palace have issued statements apologizing to foreign athletes for the woeful services of their accomodations.
PHISGOC in particular has been the target of much backlash in recent days for a plethora of reasons, from the accomodations for athletes, a P55-million SEA Games cauldron, the preparations for the venues themselves and even the user interface and experience of a planned smartphone application.
The 2019 SEA Games are slated to begin on November 30.