Sports Bureau reduces international sporting events due to instability abroad

The Sports Bureau (ID) President today (Tuesday) said that the monthly plan for organizing international sporting events in 2021 has been reduced by more than 50 per cent due to pandemic instability abroad.

The goal for 2021, in order to leverage the tourism sector in Macau, shaken by the pandemic, was the organization of 12 events, one per month.

However, Paul Pun Weng Kun explained to journalists, on the sidelines of the 2021 Sports Council meeting, the goal for this year is now to organize just five events.

“There are things we cannot predict,” he said, referring to the covid-19 pandemic.

The 2021 Sands China Macau International 10K marathon, Macau International Dragon Boat Regattas, Macau International Marathon, WTT Macau Table Tennis 2021 and the Macau Grand Prix, should be the events hosted by the SAR this year, detailed Pun.

As for the Grand Prix, the official said that the Government is making every effort to ensure that the event can take place.

On the same occasion, Pun Weng Kun said that the budget for organizing the events will be reduced by 10 per cent in 2021, compared to the previous year.

Considered one of the safest regions in the world in relation to the covid-19 pandemic, Macau has recorded only 48 cases since the new coronavirus arrived in the territory in late January 2020, with no deaths caused by the disease to date.