It is well known and in the public domain that sport in general and football in particular have been deteriorating in Macau in recent years. Proof of this is the increasingly low attendance at the various football matches in Macau.
In the organization of local competitions, the Macau Football Association (AFM) requests clubs to sign a document relieving the association of any responsibilities in official matches organized by it, leaving players and clubs at the mercy of their luck in the event of any accident. The lack of conditions, support and a mandatory insurance system that allows players and clubs to deal with any accidents that occur on Government fields and in official competitions puts their physical integrity at risk.
Another serious issue is the deplorable state of sports facilities and football fields in general, with the maintenance works carried out usually more like a “patchwork” and this represents a risk for all footballers and sportsmen.
See the state of the Taipa Stadium turf and its support facilities, or the state of the canídromo field and Portas do Cerco, or the case of the works carried out on the Tamagnini Barbosa field in – in 2021 – which mended the nets. protection and the field floor, but left the assistance stands full of cracks.
Is there no money to restore the global state of synthetic turf pitches and sports facilities?
We all know that repairs are more expensive than repairing or replacing something that is not in good working order.
In fact, the MSAR is said to be a platform for connecting the PALOPs and there are even several protocols for having university students from these countries in Macau. They come to the MSAR under official protocols, but are then prevented from integrating into society and contributing to the establishment of cultural ties as they are prohibited from participating in competitions organized by the AFM at the 4th division level.
Wouldn’t it be because of the aim of making Macau a real platform with Portuguese-speaking countries that these students were integrated into society and could participate in the various sports in the territory?
Let’s look at the various failures of the Macau Sports Institute (IDM) in terms of promoting sport, especially in terms of promoting youth training, which is a necessary condition, currently, for local clubs to be able to participate in AFC’s international competitions.
There are several issues of an administrative nature that demonstrate a lack of respect for the associations and citizens of Macau in the allocation of sports facilities, namely the lack of written response to written requests made to IDM, which in most cases do not receive a response or, if received orally, it is without adequate justification.
At all times, local sports associations are faced with new operating rules that are never available on the IDM website, nor written anywhere. They seem to be tailor-made to justify unreasonable decisions.
There is no IDM support for youth training, be it financial or access to facilities for associations to develop their activities. In most cases, there are even obstacles to the development of activities.
It is also suggested the creation of a Support Center for Sports Associations with its own infrastructure and shared between the different associations that allow them to be able to develop youth training programmes, namely with administrative facilities, training of educators and logistical support.
We should invest in the creation of more sports infrastructure to support the training of youth football on land recovered by the Government in recent years – concessions that have not been developed -, as well as the creation of sufficient infrastructure in the areas of the new landfills and even a international level training center that can attract teams from the PALOP or other external regions.
It is also suggested to change the mechanism for assigning fields to the different associations, ensuring equal access and eliminating the discriminatory situations that exist today, as well as improvements in the computer system for individual field rental, allowing all those who reserve them in First, complete bureaucratic and payment procedures without assigning them to other people.
*Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Macau/Association of Public Service Workers of Macau
