FA administrative chaos needs improvement

01 point of view

Written by: Review Editor Room

2020-05-14 06:00

The Audit Commission released the "Report No. 74 of the Director of Audit" last month, which covers all aspects of the development of football in Hong Kong and lists a number of management and operational issues of the Hong Kong Football Association. The development of the Hong Kong football team has been stagnant for many years. As the Football Association responsible for promoting Hong Kong's football career and development, management chaos is common. The two are really related. The National Audit Office has been severely approved. The FA and even the government must listen sincerely and strive to improve.

Review the report of the Home Affairs Bureau and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department on "Management of Sports Development Funding through the Arts and Sports Development Fund (Sports Section)". Section 4 focuses on "Funding for Football Development". Issues in governance, human resources management, attendance and self-employment, performance measurement and other issues, such as low attendance of FA directors in meetings, chaotic recruitment, low attendance at football matches, continued decline in income, and underperformance Such as ideal, performance that has not reached the main goal, etc.

In short, Audit's criticisms are mainly in the FA's administration and performance. Undoubtedly, the football downturn in Hong Kong lags behind the performance targets set by the two five-year plans in terms of both the number of visitors and the specific results. The FA can hardly blame it, but it is also difficult to blame the FA alone. Insufficient support from the government and even the public is also crucial. In contrast, the FA's administrative management issues are more "real" and it is difficult to shirk others, and the FA must reflect on it deeply.

The board meeting rate is close to zero?

So what is the chaos of FA governance? Audit has reviewed the attendance rates of the FA ’s Board of Directors, Panels and Working Group members during the 2014/15 to 2018/19 season, and found that some members have attended the Board / Panel / Working Group meetings during individual seasons The rate is less than half, and the attendance rate of some members even in the five-year board meeting is only 0 to 14% (0% in 4 years and 14% in 1 year). The meeting meets 6 to 9 times a year. Directors can attend up to about 1 meeting a year. What is even more surprising is that according to Liang Zhishan, who had served as the director of the FA during this period, the director, who has been hovering between 0 and 1 times for many years, is the president of the Football Association, Huo Zhenting.

As stated by the Audit Commission, the "meeting" of board members of an organization is a prerequisite for quality policy. Even though the FA directors are obligatory and have no affiliation with the FA, this does not relieve the board members of the responsibility of meeting. As a senior director of the organization, the absence of decision-making meetings for a long period of time may even be five years as the chairman The fact that he attended only one board meeting was incredible. The attitude of the FA directors is so lazy. It is self-evident how much they value the FA Conference and even the development of the Hong Kong Football Association. It is not unreasonable to rely on them to promote the implementation of the Football Association plan.

Recruitment is illegal

In addition, the FA's failure to follow the procedures of recruiters is even more chaotic. The Audit Commission did not name the criticism of the early years when the FA hired Hong Kong football coach Gary Waite. Gary Waite submitted the application only 10 days after the recruitment deadline, but the FA Chief Executive Xue Jifu directly submitted the application to the Human Resources Department. , And finally successfully hired. However, of the 115 applications received by the FA in that year, 5 applications were received by the FA only after the deadline for application deadlines, and 2 were not accepted without formal channels, so they were not accepted. Appointment obviously violated normal procedures. At that time, Liang Zhishan even questioned that the chief executive had bypassed the appointment of the board of directors, so he resigned.

Former FA Chief Executive Officer Xue Jifu (right) was questioned by the audit report for failing to declare a relationship with former Hong Kong football coach Gary Wright (left). (Photo / Photo by Gao Shiqi)

What's more, such chaotic recruitment seems to be quite common. According to the FA ’s recruitment process, if the interviewees and the members of the recruitment team are close relatives and friends, the team members must declare in advance, and the FA will make another interview arrangement. However, the Audit Commission reviewed 10 FA recruitments and found seven Of the applicants whose members have made a declaration, five of them have not been interviewed by the FA, and the two who have been arranged are full-time and current employees, but one of the five who have not been arranged for the above is also the FA. Meet employees. What's more, the Audit Commission also learned that although the FA arranged separate interviews for two current employees, some of the interviewers still knew the applicant in the end, so the fairness of the FA's recruitment work is quite questionable.

The government is also accountable

The governance of the FA is quite chaotic and sloppy. Naturally, it is difficult to give the public confidence to lead the development of the Hong Kong Football Association. It is really necessary for the FA to actively improve on the audit recommendations. Equally important is that the FA is a government-funded institution, but the government has not properly supervised the FA to improve its administration. It also needs accountability. As the senior football contributor Shi Jianzhang said, the Hong Kong football has changed from the old "old and small football" to the "government football" today. The government allocates 10 million to the FA every year, but the only thing that is strong is the administrative structure, which improves the level of football. However, there is no contribution and the government must conduct more reviews.

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01 depth

Hong Kong Football Association