After "more than a decade of delay, preparation work is finally under way for the Tseung Kwan O Centre" -- the first dedicated training venue for Hong Kong football, according to Chan Kin-wa of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Hong Kong FA CEO Mark Sutcliffe said that initial work for construction of the 21-hectare "horseshoe-like" facility in the Sai Kung District has "recently started." It is "expected to be completed" by July, when "six standard-size pitches, three artificial and three natural, plus a fusal pitch, two mini five-a-side grounds and other support facilities such as an administration office, classrooms, gymnasium and changing rooms will become available." The three grass pitches will be used "exclusively" for the Hong Kong representative teams from junior to senior levels and also the women's teams, while two artificial pitches will be open for the public. The venue is on a 10-year lease with the government but Sutcliffe is confident "the case of the Kitchee training centre will not be repeated." The government said that "it would take back the land of the Kitchee centre in Shek Mun for a public housing project after its four-year lease is due next year." Sutcliffe: "I am not concerned that the land will be taken away to use for something else as it is built on a former landfill site with a lot of constraints on what you can build on it. It can never be used for housing or other office buildings as far as I know" (SCMP, 12/15).
