The Hong Kong Athletics Federation said it had decided to cancel this year's Standard Chartered Marathon due to lack of government approval.
Fok Kai-gang, a member of the Legislative Council for sports, performing arts, culture and publishing, said that he had expected good news, but it was disappointing in the end.
Cheng Wing-shun, chairman of the Legislative Council Home Affairs Committee, expressed regret for this, and understands that it will not be easy to resume large-scale competitions under the epidemic. The industry must have sufficient time to prepare, and hope that the government will find a feasible solution while balancing public safety.
Huo Qigang.
(File photo/Photo by Zhou Haoyi)
Huo Qigang pointed out that the organizers actively formulate plans
In response to the incident, Huo Qigang pointed out that he regretted the cancellation of the Standard Chartered Marathon without approval.
He believes that the epidemic has been close to three years now, and the society has accumulated enough experience in epidemic prevention to be able to hold activities while ensuring the safety and health of participants.
This time, the organizer actively worked out a plan to find the safest way to hold the marathon, and he also tried his best to coordinate with the organizer and the government, but in the end, the event was not held as scheduled, and it was inevitable to be disappointed.
Huo Qigang revealed that he has received many requests from sports associations recently, indicating that there is still uncertainty about whether the event can be held this year.
Fok hopes that the government will announce clear guidelines as soon as possible, allow enough time for the organizers to make preparations, and make good use of sports events to promote the pace of Hong Kong's recovery.
Zheng Yongshun wants to try to resume the office early next year
Zheng Yongshun expressed the hope that the two sides can maintain communication and strive for the resumption of the event early next year, as well as to allow other large-scale events to resume as soon as possible.
As for the Victoria Harbour Crossing Swimming, which can be held on October 23, Zheng Yongshun expressed his welcome and hoped that the Organiser would adopt appropriate diversion and arrange for swimmers to compete in batches. Changed to longer distances to reduce crowds.
Zheng Yongshun said that he has been paying attention to the holding of large-scale events such as the Standard Chartered Marathon, the International Rugby Sevens, and the International Financial Summit Forum.
He believes that with adequate epidemic prevention, he expects some planned large-scale events to be held one after another.
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