Opinion | Hong Kong football: should government continue to fund HKFA after Legco’s damning appraisal?
- Government to soon decide on a new five-year plan, with the commitment of an annual HK$25 million subvention to local football
- Audit’s report criticises HKFA for making little progress since inception of Project Phoenix in 2011
There are a number of reasons for the Hong Kong government to stop financing football, with the existing deal set to cease in two weeks. The three Legislative Council’s Public Accounts Committee hearings this month gave local football fans a lot to digest.
The hearings found that an organisation which spends HK$40 million a year of public money through the government’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Home Affairs Bureau’s Arts and Sport Development Fund (ASDF) has failed in many areas, not only in its governance but also in its human resources management, administration and operations.
However, there is still strong reason to continue the funding, unless, of course, you want to see Hong Kong football die overnight.
The unfortunate, stark reality is that if there is no financial support for the new five-year plan, the immediate result will be the loss of jobs for 30 staff members, including head coach Mixu Paatelainen – all are funded by subvention through the ASDF, unless the HKFA can identify other sources of funding, which nobody believes they can.
There will be nobody left to care of the grass-roots development programmes either, as the Hong Kong Jockey Club is unlikely to continue its financial support of the youth programmes – to the tune of HK$25 million a year – if the government is no longer supporting Hong Kong football.