Fiba 3x3 World Tour: Hong Kong basketball wasting resources, being left behind in Asia, official says

Hong Kong officials have been accused of missing opportunities to develop 3×3 basketball by failing to work closely enough with world governing body Fiba.

They were also accused of failing to harness local participation or offer ways for players to test themselves overseas, resulting in the sport falling behind locally despite thriving in other Asian countries and regions.

A failure to register the city’s tournaments with the governing body meant a loss of ranking points, according to Hong Kong’s only international referee, Edmond Ho Ming-tat, speaking after the weekend’s Fiba 3×3 Hong Kong Masters.

The three-a-side game has grown rapidly over the past decade from a street culture to Olympic Games inclusion, but Hongkonger Ho – who officiated in the women’s final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and is one of six Fiba referee evaluators worldwide – considered his city’s efforts to be “in vain”.

Hong Kong referee Edmond Ho in action at the Fiba 3×3 Hong Kong Masters on Saturday. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Local officials were not turning the 3×3 scene in Hong Kong into results, he said.

“There were local tournaments with huge player participation but none of them were endorsed by Fiba,” said Ho, who has been officiating locally and globally for 25 years. “This is disappointing because it felt like a waste of resources.”

The Post understands that the inaugural local 3×3 league organised by the Hong Kong Basketball Association (HKBA) in June, which had 328 games across five groups, was not registered with Fiba.

“The organisers just need to take one more step to register the events and the players, upload the match results into the Fiba system and there will be world ranking points,” Ho said. “The more you do it, the faster the players climb in the rankings.

“Not only did Hong Kong start late compared with neighbouring countries and regions, but we also have far fewer Fiba-endorsed competitions. The system is there and it’s only some administrative steps.

“We have maybe three, four competitions a year, but in other Asian countries, there are easily double-digit tournaments across various age levels, so their rankings rise much faster.”

The HKBA had yet to respond to the Post’s request for comment.

Ho still believes the future is promising for Hong Kong, but only if the right elements are put together, including for events such as the weekend’s second World Tour event at Victoria Park. Having been poorly attended on its debut last year, it this time featured a half-full Saturday then a busy Sunday.

“Some overseas competitions do not require ticket admission, but that obviously requires more commercial resources and it’s a reality check for Hong Kong,” he said.

“We need more sponsorship to send players and teams to compete overseas. Players need more experience. I’d say the standard of our players is above average. However, their inexperience is costing them.

“With more official Fiba competitions, it also sends a message to the governing body that a city is working hard to promote the sport. Utsunomiya in Japan is a great example. Their attendance was not great in the first year but this small community has gathered a lot of citizens to fill the stands.”