Fang Lishen and the Hong Kong Swimming Association were on the bar, holding grievances for the 9-year-old athlete and seeking help from Huo Qigang
Hong Kong actor and singer Fang Lishen is one of the few celebrities who has successfully transitioned from the sports industry to the entertainment industry. As we all know, Fang Lishen was a swimmer in his early years, and won the "overall champion" award at the Tokyo Aquatics Center in 1996.
In 1997 and 1998, he was awarded the title of "Coca-Cola Junior Outstanding Athlete" for two consecutive years. In 2000, he represented Hong Kong in the Sydney Olympic swimming event.
However, recently, Fang Lishen has been on a par with his original superiors. According to Hong Kong media reports, a 9-year-old boy in the swimming club run by Fang Lishen performed very well in local competitions and was eligible to participate in local championships.
It is understood that Fang Lishen has taken boys out of the race many times, and won the first place in the 100-meter freestyle when the boy was 8 years old.
However, due to the lack of a high level in the swimming club run by Fang Lishen, the boy could not participate in the championships, no matter how good his results were.
The Hong Kong Swimming Association also issued a statement on this, saying that if all "competition clubs" are allowed to participate in the championships, it will affect the points system of the swimming club, but did not respond to the question of whether the boy is eligible to participate.
In this regard, Fang Lishen was very angry and disappointed, and even criticized the statement on his social media to answer the question, and bluntly said, "I must be disappointed in the association, and I am not optimistic about the future development of Hong Kong swimming." ”
I thought it would be over for a while. However, on the 7th, Fang Lishen participated in a charity event and responded to the incident again, expressing his anger and grievances.
He even mentioned that he had made great contributions to the Hong Kong swimming team, and he had been actively promoting swimming, and even set up his own charity, but he could not get a reply.
Fang Lishen said in an interview: "I am old and I am old and I am actively promoting swimming every day, but the statement of the association is only concerned that negative reports will affect the reputation of young swimmers and the association, completely ignoring the interests of athletes. ”
Fong believes that the Hong Kong Swimming Association's approach is to put the cart before the horse and does not care about the interests of the actual participants.
He even asked: "Why can't our swimmers meet the standards in your competition, but they can't participate in the championships?" We don't want points, we don't want resources, we don't even want medals, we just don't give them the opportunity to participate. ”
He believes that the task of the federation should be to help swimmers popularize, rather than just focusing on the level of swimming.
Fang Lishen emphatically said that the statement of the general association did not care about the children in the incident, did not comfort them or provide help. In this regard, Fang Lishen has sought the attention of many people, and even contacted Hong Kong parliamentarians to seek help in signing a petition.
Among them, Fang Lishen also revealed that he has contacted Fok Kai-kong, who is now a member of the Legislative Council for sports, performing arts, culture and publishing, and the reply he has received is that he is understanding and processing.
What do you think about Fang Lishen's grievances for the 9-year-old athlete and his hope that the Hong Kong Swimming Association will approve the qualification for the championships?