Hong Kong athletes denied chance to get back on track after two-day trial is called off because of Covid-19 concerns
- Track and field officials say a surge in Covid-19 cases may be the reason the government refused to approve the event
- More than 200 athletes including Christy Yiu, Vera Lui and Chan Ming-tai were scheduled to compete for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak
The Hong Kong Athletics Trial was meant to be the first event for local athletes since the coronavirus outbreak earlier this year. But the two-day competition, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground, was called off 24 hours before the starting gun – casting doubt on when local competition can resume during the pandemic.
Organisers the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association said they were unable to obtain approval from the government and were forced to postpone the event to a later date.
“We had submitted a plan to relevant government departments for staging the event but unfortunately we are still not able to obtain the required papers after several rounds of discussion,” said association executive director Dennis Ng Yu-ho. “We have no other choices but to postpone the event despite such a short notice as we don’t want to put at risk the health of our athletes and officials.
“The pandemic situation has been quite unstable in recent days and the government may have reservations about allowing the event to go ahead even though it is in the form of a trial.”
An approval from Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung Kin-chung will be required if the event is to go ahead, just like the case of the Hong Kong Premier League football competition, which resumed last month.