Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung stated Tatler Asia ought to additional clarify to the followers what had occurred, together with its relationship with Inter Miami, whether or not it was additionally misled and in addition comply with up with the membership and attendees.
He stated when approving sponsorship for occasions with “M” mark standing – a serious sporting occasion eligible for official backing and funding – the federal government didn’t overview the contracts as they could contain “sensitive business information”.
“We do not need to know every single detail under normal circumstances. We only need to make sure the organiser is able to hold the event and we can provide assistance to them,” he informed a radio programme.
“In terms of these mega-events, the bureau’s role is to promote the activities, coordinate and assist the organisers to organise the events to achieve the best outcome.”
The authorities needed to respect the working relationship between the organiser and the soccer membership, he added.
Yeung stated authorities have been extra stringent when approving purposes from organisers with much less expertise in internet hosting large-scale occasions.
“But if we reject applications from less experienced organisers, there will never be newcomers in the sector,” he stated. “It appears that the organiser was able to hold a tournament itself, but the biggest issue is that Messi did not play.”
The Consumer Council stated that as of Tuesday morning, it had acquired 245 complaints associated to the match, together with 31 from guests, involving a complete sum of about HK$1.6 million.
Gilly Wong Fung-han, chief govt of the council, stated the common amount of cash concerned in every case was HK$6,566, with HK$22,690 being the best sum.
She stated some vacationers needed the compensation to cowl their flights, high-speed rail tickets and lodge charges, whereas others had requested for the organisers to publicly clarify and apologise for the matter.
“Organisers should all learn a lesson from this. When they are promoting their events, they should clearly explain the restrictions in the contract and possible risks,” she informed the identical programme.
“For example, for mega sports events or concerts, if there are risks that the performers will not be able to perform, they should make this clear to the consumers to allow them to make an informed decision.”
Wong famous there have been many previous examples of excellent responses from occasion organisers after surprising incidents, including that Tatler Asia ought to give you methods to compensate followers and calm their feelings.
Attendees ought to maintain their receipts and transaction data in case compensation was supplied, she added.
Legislator Doreen Kong Yuk-foon stated her overview of Tatler Asia’s promotional materials discovered that it by no means stated Messi would play.
“It only said Messi is among the football legends heading to Hong Kong, which is true,” she stated. “On Dec 15, Tatler Asia said the football team was captained by Messi and many other stars. It skilfully said the team, not Messi, would play against the Hong Kong team.”
But Kong stated Klook, the company that bought the tickets, had talked about that attendees may admire Messi’s soccer expertise on the occasion. She urged customs and the Consumer Council to research why such feedback have been made.
This article was first printed on SCMP.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/lionel-messi-hong-kong-football-john-lee-tatler-inter-miami-fans-4103236
