Macau's Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario, issued a dispatch on 29 April 2024 declaring the land concession for the roughly 360,000 square meter racecourse invalid, with effect retroactive to 1 April 2024, according to a notice published in the Official Gazette of the Macau Special Administrative Region and reported by Cheng Pou1.
The land returns to the Macau Special Administrative Region free of any charges or encumbrances, and Macau Horse Racing Company Limited is not entitled to any compensation, the dispatch states. The land will be incorporated into the state's private domain1.
The concession contract was amended in 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1991, and the company later gave up parts of the plots under contracts recorded in 1997 and 1998 dispatches, leaving a final area of about 360,000 square meters1.
Two plots fall outside the invalidation: the site of Star Crescent towers one to four, tied to dispatch 32/SATOP/98, and the site of the Macau Roosevelt Hotel, tied to dispatch 173/SATOP/97. Those plots were surrendered for residential, commercial, social facility and parking buildings1.
"澳門賽馬股份有限公司無權收取任何賠償"
What it means for players
The racecourse land is now state private property, and the operator receives nothing for it1. For anyone who bet on horse racing in Macau, the concession that underpinned the sport ended on 1 April 2024, and the land concession tied to it has been declared invalid from the same date1. Racing at the Taipa racecourse is therefore no longer operating under the concession described in the dispatch. The dispatch does not address outstanding bets, accounts or any other operator obligations, and none of that has been reported in the source1.
What happens next
The dispatch was issued on 29 April 2024 and published in the Official Gazette, with the invalidation backdated to 1 April 20241. The source does not report any further steps, such as a redevelopment plan or a timetable for the land1.
Sources1 sources
- 政府正式收回馬場土地 - 正報新聞, chengpou.com.mo
