Hong Kong’s sports and tourism chief has apologised to snooker fans after the organiser of the World Grand Prix held at Kai Tak Arena ejected hundreds of spectators midway through the tournament because transport services were ending at midnight.
Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, secretary for culture, sports and tourism, expressed her sympathies on Wednesday to those affected the day before and ordered the event organiser, World Snooker Tour, and venue operator to let audiences stay until the end of matches even if they overran in the coming days.
“The snooker match was really exciting and all the players tried their best to win the games. That’s why it took a little bit longer than expected for the second match to start in the evening. Eventually, the match went on until midnight,” Law said.
“It is not ideal to vacate Kai Tak Arena before the match was finished. This is a communication issue between the event organiser and the park’s operator, [they] need to step up efforts to work together.”
She added that the two parties had to learn lessons, including about how to handle events that overran.
Law said about 100 spectators stayed until 11.15pm but were told to leave. About 60 of them stayed beyond that, and around 20 fans subsequently got into a dispute with the event organiser.
The sports park was officially opened on March 1, with one of its venues, the Kai Tak Arena, hosting its first snooker event, the World Grand Prix, on Tuesday. The tournament takes place between March 4 and 9.
