The Tokyo Olympics ended successfully last Monday (August 9). The Hong Kong team achieved record-breaking results of one gold, two silvers and three bronzes, triggering social discussions on sports development; Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced five new measures the next day, emphasizing the SAR government The goal of "industrialization" and "specialization" will be added on the basis of "popularization, elitism, and event-oriented".
Sports resources have always been insufficient, and the Hong Kong government certainly needs to increase support, but if it is just speculation and blindly increase funding, without improving the Hong Kong Association, Olympic Committee and its sports associations, the administrative malpractice, financial confusion, and nepotism have been criticized for many years. Problems such as ties, closed mechanisms, etc., I am afraid that it is also difficult for public funds to be used properly.
Undeniably, the authorities have allocated 25 million yuan at the end of last year to set up a five-year "National Sports Association Corporate Governance Group." However, the group does not seem to have made any significant progress so far.
There are often scandals of mismanagement by the National Sports Association, among which news about the unfair selection mechanism of athletes has emerged, because there are basically no objective evaluation criteria, but the coach and the association will "make a final decision" from time to time. Cause controversy.
Controversial case 1: The
2019 Cycling Association refused to compete in the Olympic test competition Guo Cheng
In 2019, Hong Kong won a place in the Tokyo Olympic test for women’s BMX racing. Guo Cheng’s place should have been Guo Cheng, because she is the only representative of the Hong Kong team.
However, Guo Cheng’s mother said that when they wrote to the Cycling Association to apply for the competition, the Association did not reply via email until the registration deadline. “This is not the focus of this year’s training event.” “After integrating the coach’s opinions, the athletes believe that the athletes Not reaching the level of participating in the Olympics to prevent athletes from having unnecessary chances of injury", refused to recommend Guo Cheng to play.
Guo's mother was very dissatisfied, criticizing the "always supreme" and "coaching supreme," and obliterated her daughter's efforts.
Guo Cheng’s mother criticized on social networking sites that cycling always obliterated her daughter’s efforts.
(Screenshot of Guo Cheng’s mother’s facebook)
The reporter checked Guo Cheng’s record in the International Cycling Federation. In 2018, she participated in three professional level events commonly known as "C1" (Class 1) and one Asian youth group event, and won in two C1 races and the Asian race. 5th place, and currently ranked 56th in the world.
Based on this performance, participating in the Olympic qualifying competition is by no means a “fantasy night”; even if the Olympic-level track is more dangerous than the Intercontinental and C1 races, as long as there is enough training, it is not difficult to protect yourself.
So, what criteria did the general association and the coach use to determine that Guo Cheng "has not reached the level of participating in the Olympics"?
The reporter checked the website of the Cycling Association again, and found no criteria for the selection of the BMX Hong Kong team and no selection mechanism for BMX overseas competitions.
In other words, the outside world has no way of knowing.
Controversial case 2:
Youth fencing representatives Li Wanwen and Fang Qiao failed in the competition in 2014
In 2014, Hong Kong’s youth fencing representative Li Wanwen was accused of insufficient training attendance and failed to participate in the World Youth Fencing Championships; while Fang Kaishen (formerly named Fang Qiao), ranked number one in youth epee fencing, was no longer selected to compete in the Asian Games epee individual competition. , Can only participate in team competitions.
The parents of the two held a press conference with Liu Guojian, the former Hong Kong fencing representative, and accused the Fencing Association of administrative chaos and black box operations.
Liu Guojian explained that Li Wanwen's attendance rate exceeded 100% from October 2013 to January 2014. As of January 2014, she applied for leave and was approved by the association for taking school exams, but the association was only calculated in the current month. Her attendance rate is 62% lower than the required training hours, which is obviously unfair.
As for Fang Kaishen, who was ranked first in Hong Kong’s youth epee but failed the Asian Games epee individual competition for no reason, according to Fang’s mother, when they appealed this, Tang Simin, chairman of the appeal committee, privately responded that, given that another athlete has Olympic experience, It is expected to achieve better results than Fang Kaishen, so Fang Kaishen can only participate in the team competition.
Fang Kaishen, formerly named Fang Qiao, is now the epee brother of the Hong Kong Fencing Team.
In 2014, Jian Zong was accused of unfair selection. At that time, Fang Kaishen, who ranked first in Hong Kong's youth epee, lost the Asian Games epee individual competition for no reason.
(Information Picture/Photographed by Li Zetong)
The incident aroused social concern, but the Fencing Association still did not provide a reasonable explanation.
Check the "Criteria for Selecting "Hong Kong Fencing Team Members" revised by the Fencing Association in 2018, which lists the "local rankings", "International Fencing Federation individual adult rankings", "team training rankings", " Evaluation factors such as "Training Attendance Rate" and "Coaching Comments", but the proportion of each factor is not listed, and it has not been revised yet.
Controversial case 3: In
2018, athletes who did not meet the selection criteria were approved by the Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee to participate in the Asian Games
In 2018, Guo Jiahui, who ranked first in the 100-meter breaststroke in Hong Kong, applied to the Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee to participate in the upcoming Asian Games. Unexpectedly, it was rejected by the Association, and Wu Xinjian, the son of Wu Xuguang, a member of the National Swimming Association, represented the Hong Kong team. -It is said that only 6 people were eligible for the selection at that time, but in the end another 11 people were selected on the grounds of "other factors".
Outsiders questioned that the incident involved the transfer of interests, and the Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee issued a statement reiterating that there was no favoritism.
However, after checking the selection criteria at the time, swimmers need to obtain the top eight results in designated international competitions before they can represent the Hong Kong team; however, the result submitted by Guo Jiahui is the 12th place in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2016 Asian Swimming Championships, submitted by Wu Xinjian It was the 12th place in the 50-meter breaststroke in the 2017 Asian Indoor Martial Arts Competition. In other words, neither of them met the relevant requirements, but Wu Xinjian was able to compete with "other factors".
In addition, the Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee also pointed out that in order to avoid wasting the quota, Wu Xinjian, who swims 50 meters, replaced Guo Jiahui, who swims 100 meters, in the Asian Games 100-meter breaststroke event; The project clearly enjoys two entries.
In the "Audit Report No. 74" published last year, the Audit Commission criticized the Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee for lack of transparency in the selection of athletes and failed to implement the "National Sports Association" formulated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption in 2011. Anti-corruption Tips.
In 2018, Guo Jiahui, who ranked first in the 100-meter breaststroke in Hong Kong, applied to the Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee to participate in the Asian Games and was rejected, and Wu Xinjian, the son of Wu Xuguang, a member of the National Swimming Association, played on behalf of the Hong Kong team. The incident was suspected to involve interests. delivery.
(Profile picture / Photo by Liang Pengwei)
Governance group at a cost of five million yuan every year
so far has only held two seminars last year
In fact, such general scandals have been criticized for many years, but the SAR government has only awakened from a dream since the audit report was published. Set up a "National Sports Association Organizational Governance Team" to review the operations of each National Sports Association.
The Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee also appointed former police brother Tang Jingcheng, former Food and Health Bureau Director Chow Yue, and former Po Leung Kuk Chairman Ma Qingnan as members of the "Independent Steering Committee" to lead the "National Sports Association's Corporate Governance Group."
However, it has been nearly a year since the establishment of the group, and there does not seem to be any significant progress.
"Hong Kong 01" asked the Home Affairs Bureau, which provided funding, to check the progress and effectiveness of the team, but when the bureau responded it was ignorant, asking the reporter to "ask about returning to the Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee."
When the reporter asked for relevant information from the Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee, the association did not respond positively. It only pointed out that the group had held two lectures in December last year and January this year, which were taught by the Hong Kong Management Association instructors. The "National Sports Association Corporate Governance" and the "National Sports Association Corruption Prevention Tips" presented by the ICAC staff.
The government set up a "National Sports Association Corporate Governance Team" to review the operations of various National Sports Associations. The Hong Kong Association appointed former police brother Tang Jingcheng, former Director of the Food and Health Bureau Zhou Yue and former Po Leung Kuk Chairman Ma Ching Nam to lead the "National Sports Association Organizational Governance" group".
However, it has been nearly a year since the establishment of the group, and there does not seem to be any significant progress.
(Information picture/provided by the Olympic Committee)
In addition, "Hong Kong 01" can not get more information.
But in any case, if the governance team that spent a total of $25 million in five years only needed to hold two lectures a year to complete its work goals, and the Home Affairs Bureau, which is responsible for providing funding, could turn a blind eye to its progress and effectiveness. I believe the public It should be unacceptable.
Similarly, if the SAR government thinks that granting funds to become a governance group is equivalent to improving the bad governance practices of the National Sports Association, it is absolutely absurd and irresponsible.
Why does the Hong Kong Government always turn a blind eye to problems such as misadministration, financial confusion, nepotism, and closed mechanisms of the Hong Kong Association and Olympic Committee and its sports associations?
In the final analysis, one is lazy government, thinking that it will be enough to "outsource" responsibilities to institutions other than the government; the other is speculation, which has always led sports policies with elite thinking and tends to invest most of its resources in comparison. Among the projects that are easy to win, forget that the primary essence of sports is to improve people's health.
