More than $190 million will be allocated to Hong Kong's sporting family today, of which a major portion will go to the 12 elite sports.
The Sports Development Board (SDB), which handles the unenviable task of slicing up the pie among the 54 sporting associations, has been told by the Hong Kong Government that a minimum of $60 million must be spent on the 12 elite sports in the next financial year.
The 12 elite or Focus Sports are: badminton, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, rowing, squash, swimming, table tennis, track and field, triathlon, windsurfing and wushu.
It is understood that the SDB will allocate around $85 million to these chosen few. The sum will be unequally distributed, with some sports (like windsurfing) receiving more than others (fencing).
A high-ranking official of the Broadcasting, Culture and Sport (BCS) bureau told Sports Post yesterday that the bottom-line support - $60 million - for the selected few was loosely based on a report by Coopers & Lybrand, which was commissioned to look at Hong Kong sport funding.
The SDB will this afternoon officially announce its 1998-99 allocation to the various associations and the 12 Focus Sports that have been under the tutelage of the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) - soon to become the Sha Tin-based headquarters of the SDB.
'We have given the SDB a huge chunk of money and it will be up to them to allocate it to the various associations. But as far as the 12 elite sports are concerned, we have set a benchmark,' said Jonathan McKinley, BCS's principal secretary for recreation and sport.
