The SAR government hosted the “Award Ceremony of Bonuses and Certificates of Merit in Sports to Outstanding Athletes and Coaches for 2016” at the Fisherman's Wharf Conference and Exhibition Center on 19 January 2017 to honour athletes who consistently fought for their dreams and coaches and staff members who tirelessly strove to push forward the development of the sports events behind the scene. They fought for the glory of Macao by achieving excellent results in high level competitions. By awarding them with bonuses and certificates of merit, the government recognized their contributions.
Awarding Bonuses Over MOP 4,500,000
In accordance with “Regulation of Highly Competitive Sports Incentive Awards” and “Regulation of Sports Certificates of Merit”, in 2016, a total number of 82 excellent athletes, 11 coaches, 4 coaches of youth training, and 1 staff member of technical support were awarded bonuses for their excellent performance in 11 competitions which are classified into 10 sports. Meanwhile, in 21 sports, a total number of 203 athletes, 47 coaches, and 3 staff members of technical support were awarded with certificates of merit. The total amount of bonuses awarded was over MOP 4,500,000. In particular, the martial arts team gained 2 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 4 bronze medals in the 9th Asian Championship, and achieved good results with 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 3 bronze medals in the 6th World Youth Championship. From these two events, they were awarded with bonuses of around MOP 2,500,000.
President Pun: Supporting them on their Professional Path
Pun Weng Kun, President of the Sports Bureau, in his speech said that he would like to thank the seniors in the sports field, the leaders of the Associations and coaches as they made efforts together over the years. As they instructed and nurtured Macao athletes wholeheartedly, the athletes were able to achieve brilliant results in international events, which was really gratifying. He also congratulated the athletes and coaches on their excellent achievements in many international events last year. In the future, the Sports Bureau will keep creating good conditions so as to help the athletes to be devoted to training and competitions attentively and to improving their skill level in competitions. It will also cooperate with various associations to support a greater number of excellent athletes to thrive on their path of professional development.
Acknowledgemnt and Encouragement are more important
Choi Sut Ian and Choi Sut Kuan, athletes in diving, stated “What athletes care about most is not prize money, but awards definitely represent a kind of encouragement and recognition to us.” In addition, the football team unprecedentedly won the runner-up in the Solidarity Cup hosted by the Asian Football Confederation, and the basketball team won the runner-up in the Asian University 3x3 Basketball Championship. Both of them were awarded by the SAR government with certificates of merit. Cheang Cheng Ieong, team leader of the football team, said “This award with certificates of merit is the recognition the government has towards the football event. It is also an important milestone of the development of this sport. That allows more young football players to be hopeful and to be clear about their goals.”
