Hong Kong, LIV Golf deal talks still at early stage, league’s CEO hails wonderful city
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil won’t be drawn on nature of talks about long-term deal, but highlights ‘supportive’ relationship with government
Discussions about a long-term deal between Hong Kong and LIV Golf were still at an early stage, with more information likely to emerge in the next few days, sources told the Post on Wednesday.
And while Scott O’Neil, the LIV Golf CEO, said he was not in a position to comment publicly, he told a press conference at Hong Kong Golf Club that any event “takes government support, and we have a really supportive government partner here and that matters”.
The 54-year-old also highlighted the presence of this month’s Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens as a “world-class event in a world-class stadium”, saying it was “company we’re very happy to keep”.
O’Neil was facing the media in Hong Kong for the first time since the city’s finance minister, Paul Chan Mo-po, announced in his Budget speech last month the potential for an agreement to keep the golf league at Fanling for several years.
“We will adopt a more strategic approach for continuously attracting sports events that can bring significant economic benefits to Hong Kong,” Chan said.
Officials have not expanded on that, although more could be revealed about the deal on Sunday, with Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui said to be planning to visit Fanling for the final round of this week’s tournament.