The Commissioner for Sports, Yeung Tak-keung, on Tuesday confirmed that two of the three main venues at the long-awaited Kai Tak Sports Park won't open on time next year.

Yeung blamed the Covid pandemic for the delays, saying suppliers had faced difficulties in shipping construction materials to the territory.

"We have ordered many construction materials, such as steel and other component parts, but the shipment dates kept changing. Some suppliers were unable to provide the materials and [we] had to find other suppliers," he said.

The delays will affect the park's indoor sports centre and the main stadium that will seat 50,000 people. They are now expected to be completed in mid and late 2024 respectively.

Meanwhile, the smaller public sports ground, which will have room for 5,000 spectators, is expected to open on schedule next year.

Yeung said he expects the overall project to stay within its HK$30 billion budget. He added that the contractor won't be penalised for the delay, as no one could have foreseen the Covid pandemic when the contract was signed in 2019.

Asked if the delays will affect Hong Kong co-hosting the National Games with Guangdong and Macau in 2025, Yeung said there should still be sufficient time to test and prepare the venues before the games.

Sports sector lawmaker Kenneth Fok said while the delays are understandable, he hopes the completion dates won’t be pushed back any further.

He added that he hopes the Kai Tak Sports Park can open in phases so that facilities that are ready for use can be made available to members of the public as soon as possible.