The annual calendar of major sports events has been reduced to just five events this year, the president of the Sports Bureau (ID), Pun Weng Kun, confirmed yesterday on the sidelines of the Sports Council’s first meeting of the year.
To the media, Pun said, “At the end of last year and according to the guidelines [from the government] we were asked to host one event per month and we were preparing according to those guidelines. But, since over winter there were some changes in the development of the pandemic, we were forced to reduce [the number of events] by [about] 50%. This means that [of the 12 events expected] we will only host five,” he said. “In the first half [of the year] we will host the 10 km run in April, and in June we are going to have the Dragon Boat [races]. In the second half of the year, we are going to host the International Marathon, the Grand Prix, and also the Table Tennis tournament,” he explained.
According to the ID president, final negotiations between the ID and the international federations of the various sports are currently ongoing, and he promised to provide more details as soon as the talks finished.
This acknowledgment by the ID means that at least two of the major events that were part of this year’s calendar have been scrapped. These changes affect events such as the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Women’s Volleyball Nations League, which was supposed to take place in May this year, and the International Basketball Tournament (East Asia Super League) planned for September or October this year.
Questioned by the Times on the topic, the CEO of the East Asia Super League (EASL), Matt Beyer said, “There is still a lot of uncertainty around international travel during 2021, and few borders are open around the region currently, especially to the degree needed to operate an event as we have with our previous The Terrific 12 in Macau, co-organized with the Sports Bureau.” He added, “EASL continues to prepare for our home-and-away season format launch at the end of this year, and we maintain a friendly dialogue for future high-impact collaboration with our friends in Macau.”
Beyer also noted that despite the difficulties created by the pandemic, the EASL continues to operate their office in Macau and continues to regard Macau as “having a huge draw in East Asia as a hub for premium sports events.”
Pun’s announcement means the calendar of major sports events in Macau in 2021 will fall seven events short of its original goal of 12, with just one more event being held compared to 2020.
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