National anthem incidents

In November 2022, honorary secretary general Ronny Wong said that junior staff should not be allowed to play national anthems at competitions, after Glory to Hong Kong was played at a rugby match in South Korea.^[1] Wong also said he found the mistake hard to believe and would not accept the explanation or apology from Asia Rugby, and said that South Korea should be banned from hosting similar events.^[2][3] Wong also said that most of the Hong Kong team members were "foreigners".^[3] After a second incident was revealed, Wong said that the SFOC would issue new guidelines on using the anthem and flag, and that the SFOC would instruct players to make gestures if the played anthem is incorrect.^[4]

In March 2023, after another incident where Glory to Hong Kong was played, Pui Kwan-kay of the SF&OC said that the government should force Google to de-prioritize the song on its search results.^[5] The SF&OC created a committee to investigate the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association (HKIHA) after the incident, and said that the association may be kicked out of the Olympic Committee for failing to follow procedures to produce the correct anthem.^[6] The HKIHA responded by saying that the SF&OC provided a faulty link to download the correct anthem, when the webpage was changed to English.^[7] The HKIHA also said that the SF&OC was to blame, and said "We felt that the SF&OC personnel handling the matter hoped to prove that only the HKIHA was at fault, and did not treat SF&OC's role and responsibility in this incident seriously."^[8]

In May 2023, the SF&OC told its member sports associations to boycott ceremonies if the event organizer does not let them verify the national anthem.^[9]

Name inclusion: China

In January 2023, the SFOC told its member National Sports Associations (NSAs) that they must include the word "China" in their association names by July 2023, or else face expulsion from the SFOC, which could result in them losing government funding and their right to represent the city in major competitions.^[10] Edgar Yang Joe-tsi of the SFOC cited Article 149 of the Basic Law as reason for the requirement.^[10] However, Article 149 states that the phrase "Hong Kong, China" be used "as required," which member NSAs had understood to mean it was optional.^[10] Yang also said "You are also reminded to use the name 'Hong Kong, China' when participating in any international sports competitions/activities and to display it on uniforms, websites and all other publicity materials, where applicable."^[10]

2000s

In December 2003, Legislative Council member Albert Chan asked the Secretary of Home Affairs, Patrick Ho, about NSAs and a perceived waste of taxpayer money, stating "Many national sports associations (NSAs) rely on public funding for operation and hosting sports events. However, some members of the public query some NSAs for their failure to make effective use of the funding to promote and develop sports events, resulting in a waste of public money."^[11]

In June 2006, the LCSD and ICAC held a seminar, named "Striving for Good Corporate Governance" to brief more than 100 members of NSAs on ways prevent corruption.^[12] The Deputy Director of the LCSD said that "As users of public funds, sports bodies must not only discharge their obligations under the Subvention Agreement but also conduct their business in a transparent, fair and open manner."^[12]

In 2007, an investigation was conducted by the Ombudsman, who was concerned about whether the LCSD had appropriate mechanisms to monitor NSAs for conflict of interests.^[13] The issue stemmed from a March 2006 complaint that the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association (HKAAA) had awarded a contract to a company owned by the HKAAA's chairman.^[13] Separately, in early 2007, the LCSD organized two workshops for NSAs on governance.^[14]

In October 2009, the Audit Commission submitted a report to the Legislative Council, with recommendations to tighten up supervision of taxpayer funds to NSAs.^[14]

2010s

In January 2010, the LCSD's Sports Commission wrote a policy named "Governance of National Sports Associations", outlining methods that the LCSD would take to further promote transparent governance from NSAs.^[14] In November 2010, a newspaper published an open letter, which questioned the criteria used to select Roller sports athletes for the 2010 Asian Games.^[15] The government responded that only the SF&OC and NSAs were responsible for selecting athletes, and that "While the Government respects the autonomy and independence of the SF&OC and NSAs, we nonetheless closely monitor the use of public money by these organisations to ensure that it is deployed effectively in promoting sports development."^[15]

In 2011, the ICAC formulated the "Best Practice Reference for Governance of National Sports Associations - Towards Excellence in Sports Professional Development".^[16] ICAC's goal was to enhance governance and transparency from NSAs.^[17] Additionally, ICAC further mentioned that the report was for "Addressing public concern on the governance of national sports associations (NSAs)".^[18] In 2020, the Audit Commission found that the SF&OC had yet to implement some of the best practices.^[16]

In 2013, ICAC hosted another seminar with coaches from 33 NSAs, on the prevention of issues such as bribery and conflicts of interest.^[19]

In February 2015, the Legislative Council released an 85-page research report on the SF&OC, which pointed out deficiencies, such as "NOCs in Hong Kong and Singapore have hitherto released limited publicly available information regarding their operations. While they have uploaded their respective constitution onto their websites, other relevant documents such as annual reports, balance sheets and statements of accounts are not available in the public domain. In comparison, NOCs in Australia, Japan and the US show a high degree of openness and transparency with proactive disclosure of relevant information for the public understanding and scrutiny of their operations."^[20]

In 2015, a seminar was co-hosted between the SF&OC and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), on eliminating sexual harassment in the sports sector.^[21] However, three years later in 2018, it was revealed that only 10 of 79 NSAs had created guidelines against sexual harassment.^[21] The chairman of the EOC stated that "We are disappointed to see many NSAs that have not produced such guidelines and policies".^[21]

In August 2016, the Hong Kong Economic Journal released an article, accusing the SF&OC and Timothy Fok of various transgressions.^[22] For example, it claimed Timothy Fok has power on all important subcommittees, including those which select athletes, and those which control finances.^[22] In addition, it claimed that Timothy Fok appointed his son, Kenneth Fok, as vice-president, without transparency, and that Kenneth Fok has no record in any type of sporting achievement.^[22]

2020s

In April 2020, the government's Audit Commission released a 141-page report after investigating the Olympic Committee, describing various failures with the SF&OC, including lax governance.^[23] The Audit Commission noted that around half of SF&OC's 29 subcommittees had not met for two years.^[23] Procurement rules were also not followed, including the SF&OC getting only single quotes from suppliers instead of tendering offers, causing a rising deficit of HK$33,000 in 2014-15 to HK$588,000 in 2018-19.^[23]

Audit also accused SF&OC of having unclear criteria for selecting athletes for international competitions, including the selection of 11 of 17 athletes for the 2018 Asian Games based on criteria that was not previously given to their NSAs.^[23] A month later, in May 2020, Legislative Council members questioned the Olympic Committee's governance, accusing the SF&OC of lacking transparency when selecting athletes for the 2018 Asian Games.^[24] In particular, the legislators asked why the fastest swimmer was not selected to compete, with a slower swimmer selected instead.^[24] In one conversation, legislator Abraham Razack asked "The Olympic Committee spends HK$20 million a year of public money but has it been fair to the athletes?"^[24] SCMP noted that the Olympic Committee's total government funding was HK$38.9 million in 2018-19.^[23]

In response, Baptist University's Professor Chung Pak-kwong, former chief executive of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, said that the SF&OC "has grown into an empire and transparency and accountability are not in their dictionary".^[23] Furthermore, the SCMP released an editorial, agreeing with the Audit Commission and stating that the city's sports development was at risk.^[25]

In July 2020, the Legislative Council's Public Accounts Committee criticized the Hong Kong Football Association under Timothy Fok, stating its governance was "appalling and inexcusable".^[26] It noted that an internal audit committee, designed to review the association's use of taxpayer funding, was not active between 2015 and 2019, despite receiving HK$34 million in funding for the 2017-18 year.^[26]

In October 2020, the Chief Secretary for Administration announced that the HAB would provide HK$5 million each year for 5 years (2020-21 to 2025-26) to SF&OC to review the operation and internal monitoring of all national sports association members, designed to review and audit their processes.^[27]

In 2021, ICAC charged the vice chairman of the executive committee of the Hong Kong Basketball Association (HKBA) with disclosing an ICAC probe,^[28] as well as a coach of the Hong Kong women's national handball team for faking timecard records.^[29]

In August 2021, a triathlete who represented Hong Kong at the 2020 Summer Olympics stated that NSAs had enough funding, but were not doing enough to identify and develop top athletes to funnel them to the Hong Kong Sports Institute, causing about 90% of qualified triathletes to drop out of the sport.^[30]

In September 2021, SCMP published an article which detailed multiple complaints against the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association (HKIHA), from former coaches and players.^[31] They accused the association of lacking transparency in corporate governance, as well as conflicts of interest between the chairman and the association, causing the development of the sport to be hampered.^[31] Some of those interviewed claimed that they had been frustrated with the association from the 1990s, and that letters to the LCSD had gone ignored.^[31]

In April 2022, the Hong Kong Basketball Association (HKBA) drew criticism from local basketball players, after local media reported that the HKBA had withdrawn from the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup and did not register a team to participate in the qualifiers; the HKBA claimed that there was a miscommunication issue.^[32]

In September 2023, local media reported that 2 sports associations under the SF&OC had consistently failed to submit annual audited financial returns; the Hong Kong Weightlifting and Powerlifting Association, and the Hong Kong Tug of War Association.^[33]

In October 2023, Bernard Chan wrote that "governing bodies must operate to the highest professional standards, with equally high standards of governance, accountability and transparency."^[34]

Members

Only the members of SF&OC could send athletes to representing Hong Kong in multi-sports events organized by Asian Olympics Committee or IOC, such as Asian Games and Olympic Games. Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards also only accept those athletes by the member associations. Therefore, some famous sportsmen were unable to participate in the election.^[36]