HONG
KONG, China — The Hong Kong Sevens kicks off on
Friday for the first time since the pandemic began, but COVID controls
including compulsory face masks threaten to dampen the rugby tournament’s
hard-partying atmosphere.
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The three-day sporting jamboree, long established as
a highlight of the
World Rugby Sevens circuit, is being billed as a key
component of Hong Kong’s reopening drive.
“It’s brilliant for Hong Kong,” said Paul John,
coach of the host side, of the tournament’s long-awaited comeback. “To play in
the Hong Kong Sevens is something special.”
Sixteen men’s teams will compete over the weekend,
but the women’s tournament that usually runs in parallel has been cancelled.
Among the favorites for the competition, which kicks
off the 2023 season and qualifications for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, are
Fiji.
The
Olympic champions have long found Hong Kong a
happy hunting ground, having won the last five editions and a record 19 titles
in the city, more than any other team.
They will be defending the title they won more than
three-and-a-half years ago.
Fiji coach Ben Gollings, the record points scorer in
Sevens Series history, said he was delighted to be back in Hong Kong even with
COVID rules in place.
“I used to love playing here — the energy of the
tournament, the atmosphere”, he said.
Current World Rugby Sevens Series champions
Australia will also be in the mix, part of a “pool of death” for hosts Hong
Kong, along with powerhouses New Zealand, who have won 11 titles in the city
since the inaugural Sevens in 1976, and Samoa.
Off the pitch, officials are eager to reboot the
sports alongside tourism sectors and declare a return to normality after years
of pandemic travel curbs in the southern Chinese city.
The tournament reliably drew a daily crowd of 40,000
at Hong Kong Stadium before the pandemic, right up until its last edition in
April 2019.
This year, the stadium is capped at 85 percent capacity because of
pandemic rules, and organizers are aiming for 30,000-plus a day.
A major test for the tournament will be bringing
back overseas spectators — who used to account for nearly half of ticket sales
— weeks after Hong Kong scrapped hotel quarantine for international arrivals.
More than 26,000 out of 34,000 tickets were sold as
of Tuesday, but the “vast majority” went to the local market, said Hong Kong
Rugby Union CEO Robbie McRobbie.
Raucous crowds
Organizers spent months
negotiating with the government to find a middle ground between strict COVID
rules and allowing the rowdy festivities that have become synonymous with the
Sevens.
Spectators were initially to be banned from eating
in the stands, but officials relented last month.
“It has certainly helped enhance the event
experience for those attending and has contributed to a noticeable spike in
ticket sales,” McRobbie told AFP.
Hong Kong maintains layers of pandemic restrictions,
long since abandoned by almost everywhere else in the world.
Overseas arrivals are still banned from going to
bars and restaurants for the first three days and must test regularly.
All spectators must present negative virus test
results to enter the stadium, and have to wear a mask at all times, except when
eating or drinking.
The South Stand has long been famous for fans in
fancy dress and a raucous party atmosphere fueled by all-day drinking, singing,
and dancing. It remains to be seen if or how organizers will enforce the mask
rules.
Economists estimate that this year’s tournament will
bring in less than HK$300 million ($38.2 million), down from HK$400 million in
past years, the South China Morning Post reported.
Last month,
Hong Kong held a snooker tournament which broke
records for live audience size, though it featured fewer overseas players than
usual.
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