Immediate Release

At the General Meeting of the SPORTS FEDERATION & OLYMPIC COMMITTEE OF HONG KONG, CHINA (the Federation) held on 8 June 2018, a Special Resolution was passed to suspend the membership of the Karatedo Federation of Hong Kong, China Limited (KFHKCL) in accordance with Article 7(4)(d), with immediate effect indefinitely, until further decision of the General Meeting based on the recommendation of the Board. 

The suspension in this case is considered a full suspension of membership rights.  It means that KFHKCL shall no longer be titled as the National Sports Association (NSA) for the sport of Karatedo in Hong Kong as recognized by SF&OC.  KFHKCL is not allowed to exercise its membership rights including but not limited to the following: 

i.            Right to select athletes to participate in international multi-sports Games under the jurisdiction of the Federation; and

ii.          Right to participate in all meetings / events / programmes of the Federation.

Provisional Selection Panel for Karatedo athletes to participate in the 18th Asian Games

As the purpose of suspension is to protect the interests of the Karatedo athletes, this action shall not affect the athletes.  An independent Provisional Selection Panel (Panel) for the selection of Karatedo athletes to the 18th Asian Games has been formally set up immediately after the General Meeting to ensure that athletes will have a fair chance to participate. 

The Panel will soon announce details of the selection and collect all nominations and related documents to draw up a shortlist of athletes.  The shortlist will be submitted to the Asian Games Selection Committee of the Federation for review.  The results will be announced by the Asian Games Selection Committee of the Federation.  It is expected that the selection process will be completed in three weeks’ time for submitting a final list of Hong Kong Karatedo athletes to the Olympic Council of Asia and the 18th Asian Games Organizing Committee by the end of June.

For interested athletes, please visit our website at https://www.hkolympic.org for the latest information.

Reinstatement of Membership and Appeal

As far as the membership rights are concerned, KFHKCL is required to review and revise its statutes to address its governance issues and to demonstrate that appropriate measures have been taken to ensure that a proper system of selection in line with the fundamental principle of fair play has been adopted within a reasonable timeframe. KFHKCL may then write to the Federation to request for the exercise of membership rights again.  The application shall be reviewed by the Board and, if considered satisfactory, put up for consideration by Members at a General Meeting.

In accordance with Article 59(4) of the Articles of Association of the Federation under “Penalty”, “A Member may appeal against a decision made by the general meeting, the Board of Officers or any committee under these Articles by written notice delivered to the Federation within 21 days from the date of the decision.”  For avoidance of doubt, as the decision was concluded at the General Meeting on 8 June 2018, the period for lodging an appeal is to run from that date, with the deadline at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, 29 June 2018.

If an appeal is received, the Board shall nominate three persons (from the list of six Membership Affairs Appeal Panel members appointed by the General Meeting) to hear the appeal, having regard to their availability and conflict of interest.

The Federation shall continue to monitor KFHKCL’s progress of improvement on its corporate governance and liaise with various stakeholders to provide the necessary support to all athletes during the membership suspension period of KFHKCL.

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Composition of the Provisional Selection Panel for Karatedo Athletes to participate in the 18th Asian Games

The Panel has been set up by the Federation and comprises of four (4) independent members namely:

(i)                 Mr. Johnny WOO, BBS, Chairman of Hong Kong Recreation Management Association; and former Chief Executive Officer of the 2009 East Asian Games (Hong Kong) Limited (Convenor of the Panel) ; 
(ii)               Dr. Michael TSE, Director of Active Health Clinic, University of Hong Kong; and retired athlete;
(iii)             Mr. Patrick LI, Chairman of Hong Kong Sports Press Association and
(iv)              Mr. Tony CHOI, MH, Deputy Chief Executive of Hong Kong Sports Institute.

All four Panel members possess substantial experiences in various aspects of sports sector including coaching, development and identification of talented athletes for local and overseas competitions.  The Panel aims to conduct the athlete selection in an unbiased manner.

Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China
8 June 2018