Local football has wandered like a stumbling drunk from one crisis to another in the quarter of a century since the game went professional here. But there is a malaise about the current administration that makes one believe we have reached a point so far down that recovery may well prove impossible.

The HKFA is under scrutiny from the Asian Football Confederation and key member clubs are voluble in condemnation of the manner in which the body has discharged some of its duties. There is talk of a Super League, although that idea would now seem to have been critically hit by events at Eastern.

The final straw for Leung came over a decision by the Disciplinary Committee whose credibility is clearly hit by their lack of consistency. It should be one rule for all and, as Leung points out, that has apparently not been the case.

Leung has been around for a long time and is one of those rare characters who is in it for the love of the game.

His career record as a manager stands well above what has been achieved by virtually anyone in Hong Kong football over the past 30 years.

Eastern, who used to see-saw between the heights and the depths, showed what a well-run club can achieve.

Intelligent overseas signings, professional organisation and coherent, longer term planning combined to make Eastern the most powerful side in the territory.

Leung's main point has been the disposal of power within the HKFA and his views are echoed by most clubs.

It is inherently wrong that clubs, or their sponsors, who put up millions of dollars do not have the major say in their own destiny. It is a clutch of junior club representatives who hold the power.

Add to them a representative of the Referees' Association - and how can they have a say in running professional football clubs? - and you have a system that is bound to cause dissent.

The decision of Leung to quit the game and Lai Sun to back out of sponsoring Eastern has turned the spotlight firmly on to the HKFA and one can only wonder at the reaction of chairman Stewart Lee Leung-nan.

He, too, has been around a long, long time and has been involved in the running of a professional club. He has done a lot of work - but his reaction to recent developments reminds one of Nero who fiddled merrily while Rome burned.

The idea of a separate Premier Division makes clear appeal. It is a system that operates successfully in many countries - notably Britain.

What that would mean is the day-to-day administration of such a league would be taken out of the hands of the HKFA. As the ruling body, however, it would still have its cut of the gates, run the national team and be represented on the Disciplinary Committee.

There is nothing illogical about this idea and it would certainly mean that any future blunders in relation to the Premier or First Division would be the fault of clubs themselves - and not the HKFA.

It is also fair to add that not everything that goes wrong with football can be blamed on the HKFA. The endless parade of sub-standard overseas professionals joining and quickly leaving local clubs is testimony to the fact that far from all of them are well run.

But the need for change is crucial. Basically, Hong Kong football has limped along under a weak-kneed, virtually unchanged administration for years..

Sadly, however, one feels that Leung's decision to quit will not be viewed as unfortunate by the power brokers in Ho Man Tin. They are more likely to see it as the departure of a forceful critic who knew what he was talking about.

The losers, of course, are the fans.