MEMBERS of the national squad have put their careers on the line by throwing their weight behind the rebel group in the Hongkong Judo Association power struggle.
With the two warring factions preparing to face each other in the Supreme Court today, nine national players, led by Olympians Alex Lee Kan and Law Lai-wah, yesterday sent a letter to Hongkong's sports supremo A. de O. Sales backing the rebels.
Rebel leaders Cyril Wong Siu-ming and Jimmy Ng King-cheung formed their own hierarchy under the association banner after they were banned from seeking election to committee positions.
However, the Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee, headed by Sales, has continued to support the incumbent party led by president Samson Mak Yiu-cheung and chairman Henry Shing Yuen-hing.
In their letter the players questioned the ability of Mak and Shing to head the association, claiming that under their leadership the standard of judo had gone down and the sport was getting less government subsidy.
They argued that this had curtailed the opportunities to attend international tournaments, unless players were willing to pay their own way.