Business should give more chances to retired athletes

The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung on Saturday said businesses should be more open to employing athletes once they retire, as they have already shown their abilities on a global stage. Speaking on a radio programme, Mr Yeung said the government had allocated resources to help athletes once they step down. He said most have skills that are highly sought by employers. "Actually we hope the business sector will consider employing more athletes because we think they have a lot of abilities: such as how they face challenges, how they remain calm under pressure, and their perseverance. These are qualities we hope society will be able to see, and we hope the business sector will be able to give athletes more chances," Yeung said. He said universities here have been admitting athletes through their top athletes admission scheme and granting them a longer study period so they can attend training. Yeung said the promotion of sport in the community is crucial if new talent is to be discovered. "The government is trying to promote different kinds of sport in the community.... When more people are involved in sport, more people will develop an interest in sport, and it will be easier for us to find talent and give them the resources to train their skills," he said. "We are also supporting the Hong Kong Sports Institute and The Jockey Club to do research into how to increase athletic performances and make use of human science to improve training," he added. Meanwhile, Yeung said the Paris Games had encouraged people to go out in the evening and watch Olympic events, which are free-to-air. He said the catering industry had recorded around a 30 percent increase in sales. When asked whether the government would continue to purchase the Olympic Games broadcasting rights in future, Yeung said the government would consider sporting events on a case-by-case basis.