Hong Kong national coach Arie van der Zouwen was astonished to find out that the troubled League Cup final scheduled for last Sunday had been postponed, saying: 'That would never happen in Europe.'
Van der Zouwen, who returned from a scouting mission to Bangkok where he watched Hong Kong's World Cup group rivals Qatar play in the King's Cup, said he couldn't imagine the European Cup final or any other major European tournament being abandoned because a club had fielded an illegal player.
The Dutchman was surprised that the final between Sun Hei and Happy Valley had to be postponed after it emerged that Sun Hei had fielded an ineligible player - English forward John Moore - during one of the club's earlier round-robin matches.
'In Europe they just play the match. If a club was found to have fielded a suspended player, then the club would be docked three points and forced to pay a heavy fine. But they will play the game [final] no matter what,' said Van der Zouwen.
'I have never seen such a situation before where a Cup final was cancelled [postponed] because somebody had made a mistake. Now it has become a real problem.'
But the former Feyenoord youth coach said the uncertainty hanging over the League Cup would not affect Hong Kong's preparations for next month's World Cup qualifiers where the SAR have been grouped against Qatar, Malaysia and Palestine.
'It will not affect our team. We have several matches lined up this month,' he said. 'The team will depart on February 24 to play two matches [on the mainland], returning on February 28'. Hong Kong will play Chinese mainland sides Tsing Tao and top club Dalian Shide.
