THE EUROPEAN TOUR has postponed next week's Hong Kong Open due to the ongoing civil unrest in the city.
The protests began in early June over a now-shelved extradition bill to mainland China that many saw as Beijing's creeping interference on legal and other rights guaranteed to Hong Kong when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
The movement has since expanded to include other demands, including direct elections for the city's leaders and an independent investigation into alleged police brutality.
Several sporting events have been cancelled due to the unrest, including the PGA Tour-China's Clearwater Bay Open and the Hong Kong Open tennis and squash tournaments, and the first event on the European Tour's 2019-20 calendar has now become another casualty.
The tournament could be rescheduled for early next year and European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said in a statement: "The decision has been taken due to the ongoing level of social unrest in Hong Kong.
READ MORE: McIlroy looks to shine again in happy Dubai hunting ground
"As the safety of our players, staff, stakeholders and everyone involved in each and every one of our tournaments around the world is our top priority, we feel this is the correct, but unfortunate, course of action.
"The European Tour thanks everyone at the Hong Kong Golf Association, the Hong Kong Golf Club and all persons associated with the Hong Kong Open for their hard work in endeavouring to stage the tournament and we look forward to hopefully returning early next year."
Speaking during the recent Turkish Airlines Open, Pelley said that he had no concerns over player safety.
"There are a couple of events that were happening right in the area [of the protests] but Fanling is not in that area," Pelley said. "We'll monitor it on a weekly basis but we're comfortable with the tournament going ahead."
Former Masters champion Patrick Reed was set to contest the event for the fourth time and said he had no concerns.
"No, not at all," Reed said. "I talked to the European Tour, the tournament director and it's completely safe to go over."
The European Tour could now face claims for the cost of flights and hotels from players who planned to compete in Hong Kong instead of the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa, which is being staged on the same dates.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here