1 year ago
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The Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tourney kicks disconnected Friday for the archetypal clip since Covid-19 hit.
While the city's pandemic regulations stay strict, Chris Brooke, president of the Hong Kong Rugby Union, claimed request to be the lawsuit remains high.
"I deliberation radical are looking guardant to a amusive weekend. Those restrictions are determination but I don't deliberation it takes distant from the cardinal ingredients of the Sevens — which is large rugby, amusement and a amusive weekend," Brooke said.
The tourney volition beryllium held astatine the 40,000-seat Hong Kong Stadium, but the authorities has capped seats astatine 85% capacity, allowing lone up to 34,000 spectators each day. Brooke said astir 26,500 tickets person been sold and a bulk of attendees are apt to beryllium Hong Kong residents.
Before the pandemic, the 3 time sporting lawsuit could easy gully a full of 120,000 spectators. In 2019, overseas visitors accounted for fractional of attendees and the tourney contributed astir 400 cardinal Hong Kong dollars ($50 million) to the city's economy, according to Reuters.
Instead of the accustomed 24 teams, lone 16 teams volition beryllium competing astatine the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens this year. There volition besides beryllium nary women's tourney this clip around.
The Fiji squad has won the tourney 5 times successful a enactment and volition play their archetypal lucifer against Japan connected Friday.
The rules
Despite determination neighbors abandoning astir of their Covid-19 measures, galore of Hong Kong's pandemic rules stay successful place.
At the tournament, spectators volition beryllium seated successful groups of 12 and volition person to support their look masks connected astatine each times erstwhile they are not consuming nutrient oregon drinks, according to the Hong Kong Sevens website.
In accordance with government's rules, attendees are required to contiguous their Leave Home Safe Vaccine Pass and a photograph of a accelerated antigen trial with their sanction and date, the tract said.
Players are besides taxable to Covid regulations and indispensable enactment wrong a quarantine bubble, akin to however athletes were kept harmless during the Winter Olympics successful Beijing earlier this year.
"They're precise affirmative astir being present … They're precise blessed to spell done that process to marque definite they tin get connected the pitch," said Brooke.
Navigating the rules has been hard for the Hong Kong Rugby Union, which relies connected the Rugby Sevens for astir of its revenue.
Brooke said the enactment had to importantly chopped spending implicit the past 2 years and slashed headcount by 50%.
"We've ever been alert of the reliance connected the Sevens and we've ever been trying to trim that pre-Covid arsenic good … We admit that we request to look astatine alternate gross streams," Brooke said.
"It is rather challenging, but I deliberation the absorption going guardant volition beryllium to guarantee that we've got a bully equilibrium betwixt the Sevens income and different gross sources," helium added.
Still, Brooke is optimistic that the rugby national is moving successful the close absorption and is hoping for a bully premix of section and planetary spectators successful 2023.
"It'd beryllium large if we tin get these large events going implicit the adjacent 3 to 4 months due to the fact that I deliberation it truly helps the section assemblage and evidently helps [Hong Kong's] presumption arsenic an planetary hub."
