Doom and gloom scenario points to bleak future unless HKRFU directors take

The revolutionary first steps to decide the fate of First Division rugby saw representatives of the five clubs present the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU) with their vision of what the future should be.

Sports Post has obtained a copy of the paper outlining the clubs' requests.

The suggestions were put forward by the clubs to HKRFU directors last night for consideration.

The paper starts with the hard facts of life facing Hong Kong First Division clubs. They are: (a) clubs must pay players to come to Hong Kong, which is an expensive city; (b) a competitive team is established by the highest common denominator, which is the club that can mobilise the largest financial backing; (c) domestic rugby does not have a high public profile. It is not televised and is therefore unattractive to Hong Kong-based corporate sponsors; (d) sponsorship follows results on the field - winning the league allows a club to expand its sponsorship base; (e) Hong Kong has lost its two main traditional sources of expatriate amateur rugby players - the Police and the British Army.

Some of the positive aspects of Hong Kong rugby, according to the clubs, are: (a) Hong Kong is among the richest rugby-playing nations in the world owing solely to the Hong Kong Sevens; (b) Hong Kong is the logical choice as a gateway for the development of rugby in China.

The clubs say that although the HKRFU is the principal beneficiary of the high standard of players in town, the cost of keeping these players in Hong Kong is borne by the clubs and not the HKRFU.

And they add that without some sort of regulation of the expenditure on overseas players brought to Hong Kong, the HKRFU's goal of ensuring local-player representation in elite sides may end up forever beyond the grasp of those local players, defeating the ultimate objective of the existing development programme.