‘Parting gift’ from Leung as Hong Kong sports get a shot in the arm
Chief Executive places more emphasis on sport this time as the Elite Athletes Development Fund gets HK$1 billion in funding, while significantly increasing the provision of sports facilities
Leung Chun-ying finally placed sports on a higher platform during Wednesday’s Policy Address in a surprise move that local sports officials say is a parting gift from the Chief Executive.
Two years ago, he upset the sports community ago when he said “sports and religion that have no economic contribution to Hong Kong can all participate in the nomination process [of selecting Chief Executive candidates]”.
This time, Leung gave the biggest mention of sports development since he took office in 2012.
He used eight paragraphs to cover various topics in sports including facility provision, elite development, disabled and school sports and major sporting events as he outlined his last plan before his departure at the Legislative Council on Wednesday. This also came with a map and two factual boxes for illustration.
It was a big contrast from his four previous Policy Addresses when sports development was least mentioned. In 2014, he only used two paragraphs of 98 words while three paragraphs were similarly seen in both 2013 and 2016.
