THE power struggle within the Hongkong Judo Association (HKJA) has rocked the local sporting scene with the dispute heading for an all-out legal battle which would no doubt hurt the sport.
Trouble brewed at the body's annual meeting on June 20 when incumbent president Samson Mak Yiu-cheung and chairman Henry Shing Yuen-hing stopped rival candidates from seeking high-ranking committee positions.
The rebels, led by former chairman Cyril Wong Siu-ming, then formed their own hierarchy under the association banner and claimed to be lawful ruling party of the sport in Hongkong with 29 of the 52 member clubs behind them.
However, the Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee's president A. de O. Sales is backing the incumbent leaders although he repeatedly refused to endorse his support in writing.
The rift is proving costly to the association as the Government's sports funding arm, the Sports Development Board (SDB), had cut subsidies to the judo people.
Howard Well, chief executive of the SDB, said: ''We are withholding all funds to the judo association until their dispute is resolved.