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Tour feud threatens to scupper HK Open

Martin insists Asian body will not be forced into sanctioning tournament

A sanctioning row over the Omega Hong Kong Open spilt out into the open last night, threatening the staging of the event in December.

The Asian Tour has refused to co-sanction the tournament with the European Tour because certain areas, such as television rights, have not been agreed upon.

And an announcement by the European Tour last week that the Omega Hong Kong Open would be played on December 2-5 has angered Asian Tour chief executive Louis Martin.

'The decision [by the European Tour] to release the schedule without finalising sanctioning agreements is very depressing and upsetting as far as we are concerned,' said Martin.

'We, as the Asian Tour, will not sanction it until we get the assurance that they agree to our sanctioning terms. This is about Asia and our task is to look after the future of the Asian Tour and the interest of its members,' he said.

'There is a simple reason why we have not agreed to sanctioning terms. We have been talking to them for six months.

'The European Tour, on numerous occasions, have said they will only be here by invitation. Right now we have not invited them. What will happen? I cannot answer. Is the European Tour going to be here without the Asian Tour players? It's their call, not ours. I am very disappointed and surprised that the release has been made because now it involves the sponsor Omega and the Hong Kong Golf Association.

'If we don't sanction it, our players won't play,' insisted Martin. 'I don't want that to happen.'

The Asian Tour is now run by the players after they voted unanimously at the start of the season to seize control after having their careers, and the game, stymied by political infighting within the Asian PGA Tour.

Most of the tournaments from the Asian PGA Tour have signed up with the new Tour. One of the exceptions is the Omega Hong Kong Open. London-based sports promoter Parallel Media Group (PMG) has the rights to the Open and has been accused by Martin of 'trying to dictate to the Asian Tour'.

'Parallel Media Group is being very unreasonable. They are trying to dictate to the Asian Tour. The Parallel Media Group does not run the Asian Tour. They are a promoter. If they are not going to agree with how we run our business in Asia, then we will not sanction the event.'

The Asian Tour was 'shocked and disappointed' when the European Tour gave its backing in March to Parallel Media Group, which planned to brand a series of events within the Asian Tour as the Asian Series Golf Events.

Asian Tour chairman Kyi Hla Han said at the time the European Tour, which had given its wholehearted support to the Asian players' initiative to form the Asian Tour, had overstepped its mark.

The Asian Tour's refusal to sanction the Omega Hong Kong Open stems from certain areas, such as television rights, but Martin insisted the problems were not 'insurmountable'.

'We have stated categorically we will solve the television problems and we will work together to solve them. However, we are not prepared to accept this will be part of the series [run by PMG] and we need the verbalisation the European Tour has given us and Parallel Media Group that this will not be part of the series. We are not agreeing to be part of the series. All we want is an acceptance of that.

'We value Omega as a great supporter of golf and it's very unfortunate that both Omega and the Hong Kong Golf Association have been put in this situation. We have been trying to work this out for months so Omega and the Hong Kong Golf Association won't be in the situation they are in.

'We tried everything in our power and we are not budging. I can't say there won't be a Hong Kong Open, but what I can say is the Asian Tour has not sanctioned it and therefore is not part of it.'

PMG group president and CEO David Ciclitira declined to comment on the row last night.

The European Tour has co-sanctioned the Hong Kong event since 2001. The European Tour announced it would be the second event on its tour this year after the US$1 million Volvo China Open in Shanghai from November 25-28.

Last year's Open, worth US$700,000, was won by Ireland's Padraig Harrington. It is the SAR's oldest competition, having first been played 46 years ago.

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