Casinos come to the party
Plans to turn the city into a sporting hub for the region is fast gaining ground as the private sector starts financing international events
The gambling Mecca of Macau has become a sports entertainment hub. Macau organised the East Asian Games in 2005 followed by the Lusofonia Games last year, the Olympics for Portuguese-speaking nations, and will host the Asian Indoor Games in November.
Manuel Silverio, chairman of the organising committee for the three events, had said: 'We are cleaning up our image to show that Macau is not just for gambling. Through these [sporting] events we are making a big contribution to the development of sports and culture in Macau.'
Mr Silverio said that Macau could become an international 'model city' in the area of sports tourism. 'The East Asian Games put us on an unstoppable path,' he said. 'Our aim is to turn the city into a sporting capital for the region. We want to have top-quality sports events in Macau all year round.'
Walter Ho King-yan, assistant professor in the department of education at the University of Macau, said the government had become more aggressive in bidding for international sports events, more supportive of local events and more willing to spend money on training.
'The government has realised the importance of sports amid Macau's booming economy. The government sees how sports events can help build the city's image and it understands how important physical health helps the sustainable development of Macau,' said Professor Ho, who has written papers on 'A study on the use of community sports facilities' and 'Convergent process and diversified growth of national sport experience in this global village'. He also teaches courses in sports and health developments.
Macau's economy is prospering. The average growth rate was about 13 per cent per year between 2001 and last year. The Macau government and businesses are investing in sports.
The Macau International Marathon on September 1 and Macau FIVB World Grand Prix on August 17 to 19 are backed by Galaxy Entertainment, which operates the StarWorld Hotel and is building the Galaxy Mega Resort on Cotai.
Galaxy signed a three-year sponsorship deal for the Macau International Marathon in May and Francis Lui Yiu-tung, executive director and deputy chairman of Galaxy Entertainment, said the company wanted to be a responsible corporate citizen. Mr Lui said the casino group wanted to become a stronger player on the sporting scene and support more local events such as the marathon and the FIVB Grand Prix.
The Venetian Macau invited Manchester United to Macau to play an exhibition match last month. In October, the new resort hotel will feature the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers in two NBA exhibition games.
Jose Tavares, acting vice-president of the Macau Sports Development Board, said at the signing ceremony that the involvement of casinos was a new milestone for sports development in Macau.
'The government only has so much to spend,' Mr Tavares said. 'Macau needs to get the private sector involved.'
He said the involvement of casinos would make it easier for Macau to hold international events.
Professor Ho said the most pressing need for Macau's sport development was the lack of sports professionals. Macau's Polytechnic Institute had been the only organisation training athletes and sports specialists.
The University of Macau only recently began offering bachelor courses in sports and physical education.
Professor Ho said the University of Macau had a climbing wall donated by National People's Congress vice-president Zeng Qinghong.
He said the university wanted to promote rock climbing but had postponed plans to do that because of a lack of instructors.
Meanwhile, the Macau government will send sports teachers overseas for training and will also provide free sports classes for young people.
