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Hong Kong Olympic chief Timonty Fok Tsun-ting arrives for the funeral of his predecessor Arnaldo de Oliveira Sales. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Sports community pays last respects to ‘Tsar’ Sales who ruled in Hong Kong for 30 years

  • One of the founding fathers of Hong Kong sport, Sales died at the age of 100
  • Sales became president of Olympic committee in 1967 and stepped down a year after the handover in 1998

The sports community paid their last respects to Arnaldo de Oliveira Sales on Friday, one of the founding fathers of Hong Kong sport who passed away this month at the age of 100.

About 200 people, headed by Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, who took over Sales’ role as head of the Hong Kong Olympic Committee in 1998, attended the funeral mass at St Joseph’s Church in Central.

Sales, a Portuguese who was born in Guangzhou before settling in Hong Kong with his family after the second world war, was the secretary general of the organisation when it was first set up in 1951, before taking over as president in 1967. He stood down a year after the change of sovereignty in Hong Kong.

 Mourners were told to spread out for social distancing during the two-hour service before the body was sent to St Michael’s Catholic Cemetery in Happy Valley where the “Tsar” of Hong Kong sport was buried.

Along with many officials, the attendees also included retired athletes Lee Lai-shan (windsurfing) and husband Sam Wong Tak-sum, rower Michael Tse Ka-tak and his wife Fenella Ng Gar-loc, a swimmer who switched to rowing in the latter part of her career.

Lee remains Hong Kong’s only Olympic champion – in the women’s mistral at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics – when Sales was the de facto head of Hong Kong sports.

“He invited me for a talk in Atlanta after I won the gold medal in Savannah where the sailing events took place,” said Lee. “We had a long chat and he was such a nice person, despite his crucial role in the world of sports. One important thing he told me was that athletes must have their own dignity which I have applied frequently in my career, even after I retired from sports.”

Father of Hong Kong sport A de O Sales dies, aged 100

Lee, now a mother of two, was also impressed by Sales’ fluency in Cantonese, which showed the “gweilo” had deep roots in the Chinese community.

“He once told me that he walks more bridges than I walk on the road and eats more salt than I eat rice, and both in Cantonese,” said Lee. “These are very typical Chinese slangs and he used them fluently. So amazing!”

Swimmer Ng still remembers when she took part in two Olympics in Los Angeles (1984) and Seoul (1988) when Sales was also the president of Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association.

A de O Sales with 1996 Hong Kong Olympic gold medallist Lee Lai-shan and her coach Rene Appel. Photo: Dustin Shum

“He was a great supporter and champion for Hong Kong sports over the years,” said Ng. “As a swimmer I had the privilege of knowing him both as president of the association as well as everything he did for the Olympic committee.

“He negotiated for Hong Kong to be granted the right of an independent team post-1997 for which all our sportsmen and sportswomen should be grateful. A great man and a great ambassador of sports, he was one of a kind.”

It was feared that Hong Kong sport might lose its autonomy after the return to mainland China rule in 1997. If that happened Hong Kong athletes would have to compete with mainland counterparts to appear on the international stage.

Helpers prepare for the funeral mass for former Hong Kong Olympic chief Arnaldo de Oliveira Sales. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Sales successfully signed an agreement with International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch in July 1997, enabling Hong Kong athletes to continue taking part in the Olympic Games and other international competitions as a separate entity under the name of “Hong Kong, China”.

After settling in Hong Kong for more than 70 years, Sales died on March 6, 2020, almost two months after celebrating his 100th birthday.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Hong kong pays its last respects to sales
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