A DISPUTE which threatened to disrupt the Carlsberg Cup Lunar New Year tournament appears to have been resolved so that Hong Kong will field a team after all. There had been fears that the HK League XI would not compete in the four-team tournament because of a stand-off between the Hong Kong Football Association and the 10 First Division clubs. But an announcement is expected after tonight's the HKFA extra-ordinary council meeting which should confirm the team's participation. Carlsberg Brewery public relations manager Derek Currie said they had been unofficially assured by both the HKFA and the senior clubs that a Hong Kong League XI would indeed play in the tournament which starts next Monday. 'Fans can expect to see the Hong Kong League XI, comprising the best players in the Hong Kong First Division, playing against Sweden, Japan or Poland during the Lunar New Year next week,' said Currie. In fact, Carlsberg have included Hong Kong League XI on the tickets of the two-day tournament. 'We don't mention the Hong Kong League XI in our TV ads since the situation was unclear when the ads were made. But now their participation has been assured and fans can see 'Hong Kong League XI' printed on the tickets,' Currie said. A reliable source revealed that some of the senior club representatives, including the South China Athletic Association vice chairman Albert Hung, met HKFA vice president Veronica Chan in an unofficial meeting on Monday night. Both parties have compromised on some of the clubs' demands, including a share of the gate receipts of the Carlsberg Cup. 'The items they have agreed may not be exactly the same as the clubs had originally demanded. The club representatives at the unofficial meeting have made some necessary concessions,' the source said. The senior clubs are grouped together in the guise of the Association of Hong Kong Professional Football Clubs Limited (AHKPFC) in their fight for better management within the HKFA after years of losing out financially. They had threatened to boycott the annual event because they wanted 30 per cent of the HKFA's share from the Carlsberg Cup. The clubs have also demanded to have the AHKPFC affiliated to the HKFA. AHKPFC spokesman Ken Ng hopes everything will be settled by the HKFA extraordinary council meeting tonight. 'The AHKPFC are optimistic that the Hong Kong League XI will compete in the Carlsberg Cup though it still depends on tonight's council meeting,' said Ng. The Hong Kong League XI started their preparation for the four-team tournament by beating the visiting J.League side Shimizu S-Pulse 2-1 at the Hong Kong Sports Institute yesterday. Mansion's Nigerian striker Collins Udeh and Eastern skipper Dale Tempest scored for the local side, while former AC Milan forward Daniele Massaro scored the only goal of S-Pulse. Hong Kong League XI coach Tony Sealy said the biggest problem for his side was lack of familiarity and time to prepare. 'The league programme is going on. We missed a number of players since some of them have had games in the past two days or they will have a game on Friday,' said Sealy who also coached the Hong Kong Non-resident Select in the charity match against the local national side last month. 'The HKFA should do something in the next few days to give us more time to stay together.' All the selected players showed up at the friendly match except the former English international midfielder Neil Webb who is leaving the territory this weekend, and Sing Tao defender Paul Masefield who will return from England on Sunday.
