The Hong Kong Jockey Club is set to inject HK$100M ($12.9M) as part of the FA's new five-year plan, but professional clubs "won't get a slice of the pie," according to Chan Kin-wa of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Local football is about to "receive a hefty cash injection to help implement" the HKFA's new five-year strategic plan. Following the introduction of the plan this year, which is "aimed at 'transforming soccer in Hong Kong through a systemic and integrated strategic plan,'" the HKFA and the Jockey Club, a close partner, are "working out a new funding scheme," which will result in an allocation of up to HK$100M to the governing body in the coming five years. A source close to the HKFA said, "The Jockey Club is always willing to help soccer as the sport can contribute to society positively, also because it is the most popular sport in Hong Kong in terms of spectators and the number of players being involved." The Jockey Club money will "come on top of the government's funding" of HK$25M ($3.2M) a year -- an extension of Project Phoenix for the coming five years -- plus the Leisure & Cultural Services Department's annual grant of HK$14M. It will "make the HKFA the richest sports association in Hong Kong," with annual funding close to HK$60M ($7.7M). The source, however, "stressed the new money could not be used to help professional soccer, but only on development to benefit the entire community" (SCMP, 6/22).
HANDS-OFF APPROACH: In a separate piece, Chan wrote a key HKFA official has "called for directors to take a hands-off approach to the running of the game on the eve of elections to the board" that will direct the future of local football for the next four to six years. HKFA Vice Chair Pui Kwan-kay, who is up for re-election himself, "urged the new board to give more leeway to the governing body's secretariat," headed by the CEO and a 70-plus-strong staff, to make the decisions. Pui said, "We [directors] are all volunteers and many of us have club interests in our background. Our decisions can easily affect other clubs who do not have representation on the board, leading to accusations of making our own agenda. I don't think this should be the way forward as the directors should only give out clear directions and only get involved in key decisions that will affect the future of Hong Kong soccer." Pui said that the board "must let these key figures and their staff -- paid considerable sums of money with government support under the Project Phoenix plan to revitalise local football -- get on with their work." He said that continual interference from directors, many of whom are directly involved with league clubs, "leads to perceptions of conflicts of interest" (SCMP, 6/24).
