Hong Kong Sevens to go ahead despite China coronavirus outbreak: ‘There are no plans to cancel’

The Hong Kong Rugby Union addresses the outbreak, which has claimed the Hong Kong Marathon and a number of sporting events
The HRKU says they are in regular contact with World Rugby and are ‘closely watching the emergence of the coronavirus’

Disease

Patrick Blennerhassett

Published: 2:39pm, 29 Jan 2020

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In the wake of the cancellation of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon last weekend, attention has now turned to the city’s next large-scale event and its most iconic – the 2020 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.

The Hong Kong Rugby Union, which jointly hosts the marquee tournament with World Rugby, issued a statement on Wednesday in regards to the coronavirus, which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has now reached more than 6,000 cases, health authorities said. This total surpasses the 2002-03 Sars epidemic that killed almost 800 people around the world.

HKRU chief executive Robbie McRobbie said they are hoping the coming weeks will provide more clarity as to the coronavirus and its impact, which has now killed 132 people and has confirmed cases on multiple continents. The dean of Hong Kong’s University medical school, Gabriel Leung, said he expects the outbreak to peak in April or May.

The tournament is scheduled to take place on April 3-5 at Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po, Causeway Bay. The event has a full house of nearly 40,000 fans each day, with more than half from outside the city.

McRobbie said they have yet to have any specific discussions with the government, but are planning on meeting with the Home Affairs Department.

“There are no plans to cancel the Hong Kong Sevens,” said McRobbie when asked if there is a specific deadline as to when a decision to cancel must be made.

“We are in regular contact with World Rugby and are keeping them updated with the situation on the ground here. There have been no conversations about changing dates or venue.

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“We note that there are no government travel restrictions in place for Hong Kong and that the virus has now been detected in as many as 17 different nations worldwide,” he said.

The illustrious event, which generates about HK$400 million (US$51.5 million) to the economy each year, has run consecutively since 1976 and will celebrate its 45th year in 2020.

The HKRU said they will be meeting with the government next week to discuss the tournament and the coronavirus. Photo: Sam Tsang

In 2003, during the Sars outbreak which claimed the lives of 774 people in 17 countries, organisers were forced to host a scaled-back version which still featured 33,000 fans. Two teams also pulled out of the competition.

“We are in a perverse way fortunate to have experienced this before in 2003 when the Hong Kong Sevens were successfully held,” said McRobbie. “We learned a lot from that experience and our contingency planning has been enhanced as a result.

“As in that period, we will open up direct communications with teams and other stakeholders to allay concerns as far as possible. We are presently reviewing our measures from 2003 in light of developing information in an effort to minimise risk as far as possible.”

HKRU chief executive Robbie McRobbie said they gained a lot of experience hosting the event in 2003 during the Sars outbreak. Photo: Felix Wong

The sporting world in Hong Kong has been hit hard over the past eight months because of ongoing political and social protests, and now the coronavirus has claimed a number of local events as well.

On Tuesday, the Hong Kong Football Association announced it was ceasing all competitions until further notice.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: ‘no plans to cancel sevens’ despite virus

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