Hong Kong ‘quite confident’ Kai Tak Sports Park can open by end of 2024 in time for 2025 National Games
- Government confirms plan to stage eight sports in Hong Kong when it co-hosts the Games with Guangdong and Macau
- HK$30 billion new sports park still under construction after work was delayed by Covid-19 pandemic
The Hong Kong government has said it remains confident that the delayed Kai Tak Sports Park will be ready to open by the end of 2024, in time for the city to co-host the 2025 National Games.
The HK$30 billion new facility was originally planned to open this year but it is still under construction after delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which last year caused its expected completion date to be put back to 2024.
Speaking at the Legislative Council, the city’s legislature, during its Panel on Home Affairs, Culture and Sports on Monday, Paul Cheng Ching-wan, the acting sports commissioner, said progress at the park was “quite satisfactory”.
“We have assessed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of the rainy season, and we are quite confident the park can be completed by the end of 2024,” he said.
“We expect the National Games will take place in September or October 2025, so there will be about eight to nine months for us to work on the park. The test events of [Games] sports will be held before the Games and there will be ample time for these events.”
Undersecretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Raistlin Lau Chun said that Hong Kong had plans to stage eight sports at the Games, which it is to co-host with Guangdong and Macau.
It is expected that about 1,800 athletes and officials will come to Hong Kong during the Games for the events in the eight sports.
Several of those, including football, rugby, fencing and handball, are expected to be held at Kai Tak Sports Park.
Some members of the panel on Monday raised concerns that the facility could not open in time, given that there were always hiccups in construction projects. Cheng said the government had contingency plans involving other facilities in Hong Kong that could host the events.
Cheng did not specify those plans, but the 40,000-seat Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po, which will not undergo renovation until the completion of the Kai Tak Sports Park, could be used for football and rugby, while there are various sports centres across the city that can stage fencing and handball.
The Kai Tak Sports Park features a main stadium of 50,000 seats with a retractable roof, along with a 10,000-seat indoor sports centre and a 5,000-seat public sports ground.
Lau said the government would set up the National Games Coordination Office in October to take on planning and implementation for the 2025 Games.
The office will be headed by three senior officers in non-civil service positions whose employment will cost an estimated HK$11.8 million annually. They will be supported by 40 civil servants and other contracted staff.
