Tai Po official hits out at government’s apathy towards its own 2002 initiative to promote district football
- The club’s stunning league triumph is the result of a government-backed project to raise the profile of district football
- Each club receives annual subvention of HK$1.5 million to support a budget of more than HK$10 million
A Wofoo Tai Po official has accused the government of having total disregard for one of its own initiatives after his team became the first district club to win the Hong Kong Premier League title.
Secretary Chan Ping, one of the club’s founders when the government-initiated district soccer project was launched in 2002, was disappointed the authorities had yet to offer a word of congratulations for their success, nor any promise of increased funding despite spiralling budgets.
“District clubs were the brainchild of the government and when we upset the odds to capture the championship, we were expecting some gesture from the authorities, but so far we haven’t received a word of encouragement,” said Chan.
“We are still running the team with a government subvention of HK$1.5 million each season through the Art and Sports Development Fund, the same amount the two other district clubs, Yuen Long and Southern, receive.
“This amount, to be honest, is hardly enough to even survive in the Premier League. In fact, we have been given this for a number of seasons and were told recently there would not be any increase.