Seven years have passed since the first estimates were released by the Hong Kong Jockey Club for the construction of the Tseung Kwan O soccer academy. In this time, the estimated costs have increased from HK$103 million to HK$500 million. This is the 'gut feeling' of Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges.
He can afford to be blithe about it. But one should remember this is public money, which would otherwise go to charity.
Why this delay? Simply because the Hong Kong Football Association couldn't come up with a feasible plan on how it would operate the academy once it was built and handed over by the Jockey Club. Over these years, the HKFA brass has ruminated like cows in a meadow, but with nothing to show for it except a lot of hot air.
As Engelbrecht-Bresges pointed out, 'building a facility like this is easy, but you will have to operate it and make it sustainable'. This has proved to be too much of an obstacle for our soccer chiefs, who had come up with a couple of proposals over the years that failed to impress the Jockey Club.
According to Engelbrecht-Bresges, there has been nothing else concrete from the HKFA, other than a feasibility study. And he pointed out there was a huge difference between a 'feasibility plan and a real proposal'. One is just a dream, the other is reality, something which the HKFA has failed to grasp, so hence the delay.
It is a huge shame and a massive waste of money. The extra HK$400 million it will take to build the academy could have been put to good use to run the place.