City can enjoy financial rewards and greater sense of unity if it gets behind its athletes, says John Tsang
TONY.CHEUNG@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Sunday, 08 May, 2016, 5:19pm
Hong Kong boxing star Rex Tso. Photo: Unus Alladin
With good athletes and commercial support, sports in Hong Kong has great potential to generate economic benefits and unite the community, the financial secretary said on Sunday.
John Tsang Chun-wah’s vision contrasted sharply with the outlook of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who remarked in 2014 that the sports sector made no contribution to the economy. Leung later apologised for that comment.
Writing on his weekly blog, Tsang said he visited local boxer Rex Tso Sing-yu on Thursday ahead of his bout against South Korean veteran Young Gil-bae on May 14. Tsang said he noticed many people boxing or working out in Tso’s club.
“Professional boxing is a sport and a business at the same time ... and in overseas countries, sport events are big businesses with a huge chain of related industries,” he wrote. “It can boost businesses such as advertising, food and beverages, tourism and hotels.”
Tsang said while it was harder for sport competitions in Hong Kong to generate considerable income, Tso’s example showed him that good athletes were the starting points of a sustainable chain of sport-related industries.
Tsang also pointed to Leicester City’s triumph in winning the English Premier League, saying it gave “the small city in central England a chance to promote itself and made it known to millions of football fans around the world. It also helped its residents’ sense of belonging and unity”.
Appealing to business corporations in Hong Kong, Tsang hoped they “will be more active in supporting our athletes and sport events, and discover the unlimited potential of the sports industry with the Hong Kong government”.
Tsang added that the administration had been investing on training athletes. He noted the success of the annual rugby sevens and golf tournaments and hoped the Hong Kong Cyclothon this autumn and the first Formula E race in the city in October would also be successful.
In October 2014, Leung suggested there was “balanced representation” in the 1,200-strong Election Committee that elected him in 2012, as “some sectors which do not contribute to the economy, such as religion or sport” were also represented.
He apologised but was criticised for not being supportive of Hong Kong athletes as he declined to back the Hong Kong football team when they played China twice last year.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1942257/financial-secretary-comes-out-fighting-hong-kongs-sports
