Sports Bureau (ID) President Pun Weng Kun told reporters yesterday that his bureau is planning to invite foreign racers to compete in the 69th Macau Grand Prix.
Pun made the remarks yesterday on the sidelines of yesterday’s preliminary session of the government-appointed Sports Committee at Tap Seac MultiSport Pavilion.
According to Pun, as Beijing successfully held the Winter Olympics last month using the closed-loop management method, his bureau would take reference from the capital city and plans to implement it during this year’s Grand Prix in November. Pun said that his bureau will test the feasibility of the management method before reinviting the foreign racers who were not invited last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Pun also said that for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou in September, about 200 local athletes will be participating in 21 different competitions. Pun said that his bureau will provide support for the athletes during training, hoping that they will obtain a “good result”. He also underlined that the bureau plans to invite branded sports events in the mainland to be hosted in Macau, adding he hopes that this could help the city develop its sports tourism.
Moreover, according to a statement by the bureau yesterday, the session, hosted by Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U, discussed the hosting of large sporting events that have happened or will be happening in the first half of this year.
The statement pointed out that the session also discussed the situation that aside from the Asian Games, local athletes will also be participating in the Asian Paralympics and this year’s Asian Youth Games in December. The statement said that the committee also discussed the preparations for the 15th National Games that will take place in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in 2025, adding that the committed members also dived into the topic of the planned redevelopment of the now abandoned (Yat Yuen) Canidrome greyhound race track, which closed in July 2018, into a sports centre.
The statement also pointed out that some committee members suggested to use new media platforms to promote Macau sporting events in order to attract more visitors to watch large-scale sporting events here.
Sports Bureau (ID) President Pun Weng Kun talks to reporters on the sidelines of yesterday’s Sports Committee’s plenary meeting at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion.
Photo courtesy of TDM
