Chan Yuen-ting poised to become first female head coach in the AFC Champions League after Eastern are reinstated
Her club are back in the main draw of the regional event amid a farcical battle among three teams for eligibility, with Kitchee competing in the qualifiers
Eastern coach Chan Yuen-ting has the opportunity to become the first female coach in the AFC Champions League (ACL) after her club were surprisingly reinstated in the competition on Monday amid a farcical battle among three teams for eligibility.
At a Hong Kong Football Association board meeting on Monday, members agreed that Eastern and Kitchee would represent the city in the 2017 tournament, only seven days after applications were put forward by the association on behalf of Kitchee and a third club, Southern.
The decision was prompted by a new ruling by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in which future Member Association rankings will depend solely on performances in AFC club competitions.
Previously, club performances accounted for 70 per cent of the ranking with the national team’s results making up the rest.
The news came as a double celebration for Chan, who was also named in the BBC’s 100 top women list for 2016 on Monday. Chan became the first female coach in the world to win a top tier league championship when Eastern were crowned 2016 Hong Kong Premier League champions.
“We will go for a training camp in Thailand next month if it turns out that the AFC allows us to play in the Champions League,” said Chan. “We will also consider getting some of our on-loan players back from other clubs because we need our strongest possible squad.