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Hong Kong basketball boss says he will pay players’ medical bills, after first calling for more taxpayer cash

  • Basketball Association chairman Norman Chan says his organisation will find money to cover shortfall in players’ insurance coverage
  • Chan initially asks government to provide ‘one-time gracious payment’ and says association did nothing wrong in policy row

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Hong Kong Basketball Association chairman Norman Chan (left), alongside Hong Kong Bulls owner Tony Chin. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s basketball chief has promised to personally reimburse players left out of pocket by inadequate medical insurance, after initially suggesting the government should pay up.

At a gathering earlier this week, Norman Chan Shui-tim, chairman of the Hong Kong Basketball Association, said the Leisure and Cultural Services Department should fund a shortfall that has left players with hefty hospital bills when getting injured overseas.

Chan also said the “non-profit” association was not sitting on a fortune, and it had done “nothing wrong” in providing coverage for players representing the city overseas that capped individual claims at HK$10,000.

But accounts posted online for the 2021-22 financial year show the association with HK$40 million in assets, nearly HK$17 million of which is listed as “cash at bank”.

The same accounts also lists HK$4.5 million in salary and MPF payments for staff.

Leung Shiu-wah is only listed as a reserve for Hong Kong ahead of the Asian Cup qualifiers. Photo: FIBA
Leung Shiu-wah is only listed as a reserve for Hong Kong ahead of the Asian Cup qualifiers. Photo: FIBA

After saying the LCSD should make a “one-time gracious payment, or additional appropriation for us to apply funding for when such situations arise”, Chan then said he had told association officials to find the cash elsewhere.

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