HONGKONG sports supremo A de O Sales should take action to solve the eight-year rift between two warring judo bodies or relinquish his power and let the Sports Development Board deal with the problem.
That's the gauntlet thrown down by the Hongkong Judo Federation in a letter to Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee (ASF&OC) president Sales yesterday.
They say: ''We consider the ASF&OC must take action to resolve the long-standing judo problem, or relinquish authority to the SDB.'' The judo community has been deeply divided since a squabble over the fairness of elections in 1985 when the federation emerged as a splinter group from the Hongkong Judo Association.
The association retained the all-important ASF&OC backing but have come under increasing pressure to change their practices, some of which are at odds with the SDB's new ''code of conduct''.
Also, a recent television documentary cast the association in a bad light, providing evidence to show several clubs existed in name only, suggesting the voting rights of these clubs helped the executive committee remain in power.
The federation letter says: ''The speedy issue of the code of conduct for national sports associations by the SDB appeared to be in response to the programme.