Hong Kong Sevens is the pinnacle event in global sports, says rugby boss

The Chairman of World Rugby, Brett Robinson, has branded the Hong Kong Sevens as “the crown jewel of our Sevens series” as tens of thousands of spectators celebrated the sport at Hong Kong’s biggest party of the year at Kai Tak Stadium.

The 50,000-seat arena was packed to capacity during the three-day event which drew in visitors from all points of the globe. An estimated 10,000 foreign visitors joined the Hong Kong throng despite rising airline costs due to the Middle East crisis. Most had purchased their tickets well before the crisis had begun.

The economic benefits of the event are enormous. Although figures for this year have not yet been analysed, in 2025 it was estimated the Rugby Sevens generated some HK$780 million to the city’s economy, according to global analytics firm Nielson.

“There is nothing quite like it,” said Robinson in an AFP interview, adding that it was one of the pinnacle events on global sports, not just rugby. “It’s the jewel in the crown of our Sevens series.”
The runaway success of the Hong Kong Sevens played a key part in rugby returning to the Olympics at Rio 2016 after a 92-year absence. Robinson said that when rugby was applying to become an Olympic sport again, delegations were shown Hong Kong to help stake its case for inclusion.

The weekend celebrated the 50th year for the Hong Kong Sevens and has grown from a mere 3,000 local spectators in 1976 to 50,000 fans today.

And party the fans do, which is one of the attributes to the weekend’s activities. At the South Stand 0.2 young and old alike enthusiasts don colourful costumes and consume gallons of beer as the games progress. It is the colour of the attendees which make it an international attraction to the event.

Of course, to host such a major event, there must be the facilities to match the task. The $30 billion stadium opened last year with major events being a series of concerts and the Rugby Sevens, sponsored by Cathay Pacific Airways and HSBC bank. In fact, the futuristic purplish façade of the stadium with its retractable roof was purposely built for the Sevens with its 24 separate changing rooms.

The rugby opening ceremony on Friday could rival that of the Olympics. It featured dancing robots, cheer leaders, K-Pop stars, light shows and fireworks. The Hong Kong Tourism Board brought in the dancing robots that had previously featured on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala as part of its mission to showcase the city’s appeal as the events capital of Asia.

The 28 hectare Kai Tak Sports Park where the stadium is located is designed around a covered Kai Tak Sports Avenue, an indoor and outdoor pedestrian walkway starting at the Station Square and takes people all the way to the Dining Cove overlooking the Victoria Harbourfront.

The main stadium has a flexible pitch system which can be switched between natural turf for premier football or rugby events, to other surfaces for a variety of sports, entertainment, and community events. The facility has been designed to meet the standards of major international events with customisable staging and seating configurations that cater to various events and crowd sizes.

The sports park's Indoor Sports Center provides a large multi-purpose space with retractable seating to host major competitions or events of up to 10,000 seats and to accommodate sports courts for community use. A 5,000 seat Public Sports Ground is also provided for hosting school athletic events, athletic training and local league games.

Other facilities include more than 8 hectares of open spaces, outdoor ball courts, a children's playground, a health and wellness center, a bowling center and 200 retail and dining outlets. An event village will also be built to house international athletes visiting from other regions and countries.

The weekend was wall-to-wall sporting activities kicked-off by Hong Kong China Rugby which showcased international wheelchair rugby at the Kai Tak Sports Park Sports Hall with the inaugural Hong Kong 5s competition. Fast, fierce and full contact, the wheelchair rugby 5s brought high-intensity action to the Sevens week.

Earlier the premier U18 boys and girls players from the best local schools and clubs and school teams from all over the world competed in the Cathay Youth Invitational Sevens 2026 at the Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground.

The inaugural Fast 4s Netball tournament took place at the Sevens Fan Village situated at the Kai Tak Sports Park’s East Village. With local and overseas teams competing in a 4x4 mixed format in seven-minute halves, visitors experienced the high-speed action and razor-sharp moves associated with Fast 4s Netball.

Also in the Fan Village, Hong Kong China Rugby partnered with the Asia Pacific Padel Tour (APPT) to host the APPT Grand Slam Platinum Hong Kong 2026 event.

Cathay/HSBC ticket holders can also experience the first ever Primal Race in Hong Kong, also running across the tournament. Combining running, strength, mental grit, machines, and functional endurance, the exciting hybrid fitness event was of interest to fitness gurus and those who were curious about reaching their full physical fitness potential.

The Hong Kong Sevens is more than a sporting spectacle—it is a living symbol of the city’s global connectivity, and ability to bring people together in celebration. From its humble beginnings to its golden jubilee at Kai Tak, it reflects how Hong Kong continues to evolve while staying true to its vibrant, international character. As the city looks ahead, the Sevens will remain an event capital, not just a crown jewel of world rugby, but a beacon of Hong Kong’s ambition to be Asia’s events capital—open, dynamic, and ready to welcome the world.

Mark Pinkstone

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The move by the Central Government to reprimand the US Consul General in Hong Kong over her interpretation of a recent amendment to National Security Law (NSL) is necessary to correct a misconception that the city is not a safe place to travel.

Last month, Hong Kong’s legislature passed laws empowering the police to demand suspects of a crime to reveal the passwords to their mobile phones and other electronic devices.

But the newly appointed US Consul General Hong Kong Julie Eadeh went a step further and issued a travel advisory warning all Americans that they could be arrested if they failed to release their passwords. She insinuated that Hong Kong is a police state. It is not! In fact, it is one of the safest places in the world to travel.

A government spokesman was quick to respond to erroneous press reports after the legislative motion that under normal circumstances, police officers must have reasonable grounds to suspect that an electronic equipment may contain evidence of an offence endangering national security, and they must apply for a warrant and obtain authorisation from a magistrate before they can search the electronic equipment to obtain relevant criminal evidence in accordance with the warrant. 

Only after being legally authorised to search the equipment can the police require a suspect to provide the password or decryption method of the equipment. Therefore, it is not until legal authorisation to search an electronic equipment has been obtained can the police really require a suspect to provide the password or decryption method of the electronic equipment. 

The spokesman added that there is no case that the police can randomly ask ordinary citizens on the street for their electronic devices (such as their mobile phones) and their password. 

The Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection agency, which placed Hong Kong 10th as one of the world’s safest places to travel last year, advised travellers to read the US State Department’s travel advisories which currently advises travellers to exercise caution in Hong Kong due to the “arbitrary enforcement of local laws and ongoing restrictions on civil liberties” following the enactment of the National Security Law and the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. US citizens are also encouraged to avoid demonstrations, protests and large gathering, as “even peaceful events can escalate and lead to legal consequences.” 

The commissioner of China’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong, Cui Jianchun, gave Eadeh a slap over the wrist and expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition, urging the US to immediately cease interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs in any form. 

Of the 70-consular corps in Hong Kong, the US was the only one to purposely misinterpret the amendment to the NSL. It is in the DNA of the US. All other foreign diplomats know exactly what it means because the same proviso applies to their own countries.

Eadeh is a career diplomat having served in Ankara, Doha, Bagdad, Shanghai, Riyadh and Beirut. In Hong Kong she was the consulate’s political director under Gregory May, who has been promoted to US Deputy Chief of Mission in Beijing.

Unlike other consulates in Hong Kong which answer to their embassies in Beijing, the US Consulate General in Hong Kong answers directly to the US State Department run by China hawk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been quiet on China issues recently due to his distraction in the Middle East.

The US is not in a position to criticise Hong Kong at the moment as it has lost all credibility as a sovereign state. It is a broken country, ostracized by the world’s powers as they scramble to mend the fences dismantled by President Trump and his cronies.

Commissioner Cui will be keeping a watchful eye on Eadeh as she steps her way through Hong Kong, its flooring still holding the shards of broken glass from the 2019-20 riots in which she was complicit. Cui will continue to reprimand her for every indiscretion she makes.