In the past week, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po posted on his blog that arrivals fell nearly 40 per cent in August from the same time last year. It is a drop-off rate unseen since the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) outbreak – and it follows a 5 per cent drop in July.

If that pattern continues, Hong Kong sports’ jewel in the crown might as well be paste, the flint glass of costume jewellery that is essentially worthless.

The Sevens is worth a fortune to the city – the 2017 event saw at least HK$380 million pumped into the economy from overseas visitors and the figure has been rising year on year – but fortunes have come and gone before.

Rugby fans are hearty souls so maybe there is little cause for concern, but that is not the same across all sports.

Others have also suffered in this summer of discontent.

The protests have already become a hot topic around the Hong Kong Marathon in February. Debate has raged on local forum lihk.com and this added interest could be why organisers have shunned a press conference in favour of a press release. Truth is, if the unrest continues, no one is allowing 70,000 people the run of the city.

When Manchester City were here this summer, the subject of the protests was raised to manager Pep Guardiola by the travelling British press and their game was marked with protests at Hong Kong Stadium.

Things have intensified since, both on the streets and in the stands. The number of people booing at Hong Kong’s World Cup qualifier against Iran this week dwarfed those taking part in the planned protest at the Manchester City vs Kitchee game.

Iran had asked for the match to be played away from Hong Kong before it was ruled safe to go ahead after assurances from the HKFA. They know all too well that sport and politics are intertwined. They have been fined several times for fans protesting the Chinese national anthem – and could face another after it was booed again against Iran.

Their appeals to fans to follow Fifa protocol and respect the anthem fall on deaf ears, as do their pleas that watchers focus on the football rather than what happens in the stands. They are right, of course, and never more so than when Hong Kong are playing crucial World Cup qualifiers.

But, as we saw when Kitchee kicked off their Hong Kong Premier League season at Mong Kok Stadium last month, sporting events provide the perfect platform for vocalising dissent. But what’s the alternative? Playing behind closed doors?

Empty stadiums might be the future for sport if people stay away – and not just in Hong Kong. UFC boss Dana White admitted protests messed with their Shenzhen show and we will never know how many Hong Kong fight fans snubbed it on account of not wanting to cross the border.

Travel plans also threaten Hong Kong’s Olympic preparations. Hong Kong’s swimmers – in one of the few sports in which the city can consider themselves medal hopefuls at Tokyo 2020 – were impacted by the airport protests.

Au was in the team that had their flight to Singapore cancelled when they were on the way to an Olympic qualifying event. Au booked her place in Tokyo after she eventually got to Singapore, but will she even be able to get a flight next summer?

Snooker star Ng On-yee was delayed at the airport at the same time as Au when on her way to the UK to play the Tour Championship. Perhaps that was why she lost.

If things carry on the way they are, the whole of Hong Kong sport is snookered.