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Editorial
A stacked sporting calendar gives Hong Kong the winning edge
From high-profile football to world fencing action, major events are serving up real social and economic rewards
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Editorials represent the views of the South China Morning Post on the issues of the day.
Hong Kong’s football fans enthusiastically embraced the World Cup, gathering to watch broadcasts of the matches even though many were played at inconvenient times. Their passion for the game during the summer season did not end with the final in the US last month. The city’s football festival, featuring two matches between top English and Italian teams, gave supporters a golden opportunity to see some of their heroes perform live.
More than 86,000 fans in total watched the games, in which Inter Milan beat Manchester City on penalties and Juventus defeated Chelsea, at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium.
Attendance is down from last year’s inaugural event, perhaps because some of the biggest names were missing while recovering from the World Cup. But there is no doubting the impact of this new flagship event in Hong Kong’s sporting calendar.
It is a high-profile component of the city’s drive to establish itself as a leading host of elite, international sports competitions. Last month, Hong Kong staged the prestigious Fencing World Championships at AsiaWorld-Expo for the first time. The two sports spectacles added significantly to the city’s growing line-up of mega-events and bode well for the future.
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