Covid-19: Hong Kong sport bubble could be breath of fresh air
- This year mark’s two decades of Hong Kong branding itself ‘Asia’s World City’ and now is the time to step up
- Now the government has backed Hong Kong FA’s effort to host the AFC Cup and Champions League, they should run with it
Hong Kong could soon be welcoming back top-level regional sport if the Hong Kong Football Association’s plan to host AFC competitions come to pass – and not before time.
The Asian Football Confederation has confirmed that the HKFA has put themselves and the city forward to play host to two groups in this season’s AFC Champions League and AFC Cup.
Government sources also told the Post that they “fully backed” the plan, which would see five visiting teams and more than 300 players and staff allowed into the city to complete the group stage of both competitions.
Someone has to host these tournaments and Hong Kong makes sense for group J of the Champions League, which features Hong Kong Premier League champions Kitchee, and the AFC Cup’s East zone, with both Eastern and Lee Man.
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The truth is that in Covid-19 there are opportunities for countries to host regional and international events.
We saw it with the last AFC Champions League being played in Qatar and the UFC’s Fight Island in Dubai, both of which opened doors for athletes and organisers.
China has everything in place to mop up international sporting events and have proved they can conduct sport despite Covid-19.
Last season’s Chinese Super League and Chinese Basketball Association were successfully played in bubbles in various cities. By the end of their most recent seasons, both even had fans back at games.
No positive tests were recorded at either bubble but still, China turned its back on international competitions almost a year ago and has shown no signs of changing its mind just yet – although the Winter Olympics are less than a year away.
This year mark’s two decades of Hong Kong branding itself “Asia’s World City” and now is the time to step up. The last couple of years have been harder here than most. The pandemic followed the anti-government protests and there has been a paucity of professional sport.
If the government is giving the OK to host the AFC, then why not throw Hong Kong’s hat into the ring to host more regional and international events?
Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic has suggested that tennis adopt a bubble system –citing the NBA’s set-up to complete their 2019-20 season in Walt Disney World, Orlando, last year.
“I don’t want to sit here and complain about what we have been through, but we have to be honest and realistic that it [quarantine] has an effect on the physical well-being of players,” Djokovic said from Melbourne, though he probably was not considering being holed up in Hong Kong’s Penny’s Bay for 21 days.
“Of course, also mental, emotional, but physically this is not normal. Talking to a lot of players, the majority just don’t want to go ahead with the season if we are going to have to quarantine most of the tournaments. So this is something that should be discussed, as of now.”
“We have to find a way, whether it’s something like an NBA bubble, because I heard some players talk about that, Select one place and we play all the tournaments on that surface and that place. Three, four weeks in, three, four, two, three weeks’ rest, then back again. Something like that.”
Well, Hong Kong has a Disney and failing that there’s always Vcitoria Park, home of the Hong Kong Open. We’re not likely to see the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open but why not think a little bigger if the government is supportive?
A bubble in Hong Kong would certainly hit one of Djokovic’s points: “We also have to be realistic that what we are experiencing here in Australia is far better than what most of Europe is going through in terms of restrictions and rules and regulations and quarantines, et cetera,” he said. “And most of the season will continue on in Europe, actually.”
Why not Hong Kong at least for some tournaments? There are plenty of reasons to back the city getting whatever events it can get its hands on.
“It’s the right time to send a signal that Hong Kong is ready to resume international mega events in a controlled environment,” the government source told the Post.
Hong Kong sport can’t turn back the clock but playing host to all it can would be a step in the right direction. Hopefully, the AFC doesn’t burst that bubble.
