Covid-19: tennis chief wants courts to reopen and urges more people to speak up about sports – ‘we don’t need to be sacrificed’
- Philip Mok says the latest subsidy of HK$7,500 for each coach amid the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections is not enough for people to make ends meet
- The HKTA president has written to sports commissioner Yeung Tak-keung urging the government to rethink its policy on closing facilities
Hong Kong tennis chief Philip Mok Kwan-yat has called on more people to speak up about the closure of sporting facilities in the city as he tries to help hundreds of coaches who are desperately trying to make a living.
Mok has sent a letter to Hong Kong’s sports commissioner, Yeung Tak-keung, expressing disappointment at the government’s decision to extend the shutdown of public facilities until January 6 amid a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections.
“I feel that more people need to speak up for sports,” Hong Kong Tennis Association president Mok told the Post. “It’s been almost a year since the pandemic started in Hong Kong and we have suffered from four waves.
“The government should by now have a good grasp on what the most likely causes of spread are. By all accounts, certain types of sports do not fall into this category of risk.
“There are some neighbouring countries which have demonstrated success in the control of the pandemic and they didn’t involve the long-term shutdown of all sports facilities. I am just one voice and I don’t know if it would make any difference.