Asian Tour Statement on the European Tour’s Announcement of a New Event in Korea
“The European Tour continues to proceed on its expansion programme to colonise Asia with the announcement of a Korean event today without the official involvement of the Asian Tour,” states Kyi Hla Han, executive chairman, Asian Tour.
“This represents the European Tour’s blatant disregard towards the Asian Tour, which is the official regional sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia.
“This invasive action clearly goes against the principles of the International Federation of PGA Tours which main goals are to promote cooperation between Tours through the joint-sanctioning of significant competitions.
“The Asian Tour will table a motion at the next meeting of the International Federation of PGA Tours which takes place during the Open Championship in Scotland later this month, This will reflect our serious concerns as we feel that the European Tour has stepped out of its boundary.
“While we fully welcome the creation of new tournaments in Asia, the Asian Tour is totally aghast at the European Tour’s actions in not following protocol and respecting our position as the governing body for professional golf in Asia.
“Last month, the European Tour announced a new Indian event to take place in New Delhi in 2008 without the involvement of the Asian Tour and subsequently, the Asian Tour engaged the European Tour in discussions to seek an acceptable solution to this Indian tournament as well as the Korean event.
“However, these discussions proved futile as the European Tour are clearly dictating terms without giving consideration towards the Asian Tour’s efforts to promote golf in the Asian region.”
Asian Tour www.asiantour.com