Athletics, triathlon, tennis and swimming risk losing special status
Four sports have been told to shape up or face being dropped from the elite programme at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and lose annual subsidies amounting to more than $5 million each.
Athletics, triathlon, tennis and swimming all failed to reach the benchmark figure of nine points and have been told that if they do not improve their results at international level, they will lose elite level status and their yearly subvention of $5 million.
A two-yearly review undertaken by the elite sporting academy at Sha Tin, which was endorsed by the Sports Commission and its Elite Sports Committee early this month, has led to the four sports being placed on probation and given a two-year grace period to reach the required level.
'It is important to focus resources on sports with a proven success record, or with great potential to achieve high performance. The review shows that nine sports are qualified for support, but the other four have been placed on probation and asked to prove themselves by January, 2007,' a member of the Elite Sports Committee told the South China Morning Post.
All 13 sports will be officially informed of the evaluation results next week. The four sports which failed to reach the benchmark will be given the opportunity to appeal.
