HONG KONG: With the curtain of the 5th East Asian Games (EAG) having just fallen, the president of the city's Olympic Committee, Timothy Fok, is already raising his gaze to the "next challenge".

The Committee has already received an invitation to bid to host the 2019 Asian Games from the Olympic Council of Asia. They will discuss the bid to host the Asian Games next year, Fok said.

The experience of hosting the EAG has increased Fok's confidence about the bid for the Asian Games. However, the decision won't be made before the city finishes its review of this just-concluded EAG, he said.

"For the first time (for Hong Kong to host an international sports event,) the overall evaluation is not bad," he said.

But both sports facilities and organization could be further improved in the future in Fok's view.

Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing also believes Hong Kong has the capability to host the 2019 Asian Games, since the new multi-purpose stadium in Kai Tat will be in use at that time.

The government will review the arrangement of the EAG, Tsang said. The city's long-term sports policy will also be discussed then and more resources will be put into sports projects.

"(If the city will host the Asian Games,) the facilities should be enhanced," he said.

Tsang concluded the 5th EAG was "successful". The participation of Hong Kong citizens defined the success of the games in Tsang's opinion. "Hong Kong people were really involved, especially on the 12th (when the football team won the gold medal)," he said.

"The ticket sales were not satisfying at the preliminaries stage, but later turned out very well," he was pleased to note.

The football team's victory also elevated the public's level of interest in the future of Hong Kong football. The good news for them and other football-minded people in Hong Kong is that there will be nine more football fields in the coming five years, Tsang announced, while he encouraged business organizations to sponsor sports.

"The Hong Kong football team has always been undervalued in the past. Now we are proven to be promising," said the captain Au Yeung Yiu-chung.

"If we could have a stable site to have regular training, we could be even better," said Chan Hiu-ming, the technical director of the Hong Kong Football Association.

In addition to Hong Kong football, the tourism industry also benefited from the 5th EAG, with tourism during the Games higher than during the same period last year.

(HK Edition 12/15/2009 page1)