New | HKFA defends costly soccer project as questions raised over results
Lawmaker calls on sport authorities and government to explain Project Phoenix's effectiveness three years on
A Hong Kong Football Association official has once again come to the defence of a controversial HK$60 million programme aimed at reviving local soccer, amid match-fixing allegations and other problems plaguing the sport.
Association vice-chairman Pui Kwan-kay acknowledged concerns over whether the publicly funded Project Phoenix had been effective in revamping local soccer three years since its launch.
It will take time to produce results and nurture talent in the sport. Two to three years is not enough
“Our intentions were good but when putting things into practice, there are always problems,” Pui said in a local radio interview.
He reiterated that it would take time for the programme to produce tangible results despite the fact only 15 of the 33 promised initiatives in the project has since been achieved.
More than HK$20 million a year in taxpayer money has been injected under the initiative since it was launched in 2009. In the original proposal, the association said Hong Kong soccer was in a "paradoxical state" as the game was seen as the city's "national sport" but interest in domestic football was declining.
The 130-page Project Phoenix proposal in 2009 provided an assessment of the sport's health in Hong Kong and listed several recommendations for study, including allocating "home" grounds to each First Division team, restructuring the HKFA to put it back on firm financial footing and agreeing on criteria for establishing a new professional soccer league, and encouraging education programmes for young players.
The project also pledged to provide more funding to district and representative teams, provide greater support to youth soccer, and organise more international matches for the Hong Kong team.