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2021 National Games of China
Hong KongSociety

Hong Kong making broadcast bid for 2022 Asian Games, Carrie Lam says, with Paris Olympics likely next in line

  • Move to land TV rights for next year’s Games in Hangzhou follows city’s unprecedented purchase of Tokyo Olympics rights in May
  • But dismay over funding issues expressed by local athletes dampens chief executive’s weekend trip to Shaanxi province for 14th National Games

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Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (upper right, in blue) met the city’s delegation of athletes to the National Games on Sunday. Photo: Handout
Danny Mok
Hong Kong’s unprecedented purchase of broadcasting rights for the Tokyo Olympics was dubbed a “one-off arrangement” in May, but next year’s Asian Games are now set for the same treatment, according to the city’s leader, with the 2024 Paris Olympics a strong possibility as well.
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Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor revealed the planned broadcasting rights bid on Sunday while in Shaanxi province for China’s 14th National Games, where she met Governor Zhao Yide and national sports chief Gou Zhongwen.

Lam said her administration was not only confident it would secure rights for the September 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, but already studying the possibility of a similar purchase of the next Olympics as well.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam poses with Gou Zhongwen, director of China’s General Administration of Sport, on Sunday in Shaanxi province. Photo: Handout
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam poses with Gou Zhongwen, director of China’s General Administration of Sport, on Sunday in Shaanxi province. Photo: Handout

She also met Hong Kong athletes taking part in the National Games during her visit to the provincial capital of Xian on Sunday, praising their dedication and urging them to continue competing at a high level on behalf of the city.

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But the pep talk, which came on the heels of Hong Kong’s best-ever Olympics performance, also gave local athletes a platform to unload their grievances.

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