The East Asian Games bronze medal-winning women's squad will not see a cent of the HK$1.5 million grant given to the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU) by the Sports Institute - it will all go to the men's team.
'It is really disappointing to learn we won't get anything,' lamented Samantha Scott, a member of the Hong Kong squad, yesterday. 'The men get all the attention.'
The institute revealed last month that, for the first time, team sports soccer, which won gold at the Games, and rugby sevens - the men's team won silver - would receive funds under its Individual Athlete Support Scheme.
Thirteen players from the men's squad will receive a monthly stipend of not more than HK$6,500 for one year. But the women will get nothing.
'It's a shame, but it's out of our hands,' HKRFU executive director Robert Knight said. 'The Sports Institute has specifically said the money should go to the men's squad to prepare for the Asian Games.
'We cannot give any part of this money to the women's team, even though they too won a medal. At the end of the day, we have to show the institute that the grant was used correctly,' Knight said.
Scott, a longtime member of the women's squad, said the decision would make the team more determined to do well at the Asian Games in Guangzhou in November when women's sevens will also be played.
