Hong Kong sports bodies have 2 years to fall into line or risk losing funding: officials

The city’s Sports Federation & Olympic Committee (SF&OC) has outlined three major areas where Hong Kong’s sports bodies need to improve within two years or risk having their funding cut.

After almost three years of research, the SF&OC released the results of its corporate governance review on Wednesday to more than 100 members of Hong Kong’s National Sports Associations (NSAs) at Olympic House.

And while some NSAs welcomed the changes, others expressed disappointment that there was “nothing new or groundbreaking” in the code of governance and questioned why the SF&OC was not looking at more ways it could improve itself.

Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, vice-president of the SF&OC, said while there were six areas that needed work, the selection process of athletes, the governance of the board of directors, and the management of coaches and umpires were “three areas that we really need to strengthen”.

“We have more than 70 associations, each and every sport, each and every NSA,” Fok said. “The circumstances they face, their history, the uniqueness of their sport are all very different. So, we understand that it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.”

In addition to those, Fok said integrity management, administration of membership and general administration had been identified as areas that required further examination.