HKRU Waiting For Sign Off On Closed-loop Sevens

The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Rugby Union, Robbie McRobbie, said on Wednesday that it's waiting for the government to sign off on its plans to hold the Hong Kong Sevens in November and will make a decision within a few weeks.

He said he was confident the event could be held safely under an “Olympic-style closed-loop system” to limit the spread of Covid-19.

"There are still challenges that remain," McRobbie told RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme.

"In order to put the event on without bringing significant risk to public health is obviously the objective and that will involve considerable additional expenditure.

"Once we hopefully get the green light from the government that will be the job of my team and the board over the next few weeks, just to make sure before we push that final 'Go' button that we're confident we'll be able to deliver a Hong Kong Sevens that will be fun, enjoyable and affordable.

"Certainly within the month of July we'll be making a final decision," McRobbie said.

He also played down the news that the opening of two of the Kai Tak Sports Park's main venues, including the stadium that will hold the Sevens in future, has been delayed by a year.

"Really from a rugby sevens point of view, it doesn't particularly affect us," he said.

"We're very much looking forward to the completion of the Kai Tak park. We know it's going to be an amazing state-of-the-art facility but one more year in the old South Stand, in the old stadium, it's not the end of the world," McRobbie said.