Boots And All | Slow going at old Kai Tak keeps World Cup dream grounded

Kai Tak stadium will not be ready before 2018, and that’s a crying shame. Otherwise Hong Kong would have been able to put on the Hong Kong Sevens and host the Rugby World Cup Sevens later that same year.

The first would have been held in March as always, while the latter could have been played in June or July. What about the summer heat or the threat of typhoons? I hear the questions being raised immediately.

Well, as Trevor Gregory said, if the new 50,000-seater venue is as state-of-the-art as promised by the government, then it would be built to withstand the vagaries of the weather.

Kai Tak is supposed to come with a retractable roof which, apart from keeping out the rain, would also mean the temperature inside the stadium could be regulated.

Qatar is building stadiums for the 2022 soccer World Cup using advanced technology that will cool individual seats. In addition, organisers say the teams will be able play in air-conditioned comfort.

Hong Kong, too, could have something like that. But this is just conjecture. We will not have a stadium on the old airport site ready in time. And that’s a certainty of life in Hong Kong – like death, taxes and the polluted air we breathe.

It’s a real pity. Hong Kong would have been ideally placed to host the RWC Sevens for a record-breaking third time, adding to the 1997 and 2005 tournaments held here.