SENIOR civil servant Stewart Lee Leung-nang takes on the toughest job in Hongkong soccer on Sunday . . . and walks straight into another crisis.
Lee was the only nomination to succeed Victor Hui Chun-fui as chairman of the Hongkong Football Association when nominations closed at noon yesterday.
And his first job as chairman-elect was to announce that Mongkok Stadium, home to Hongkong soccer since early last year, is to close for nine months from next March.
This latest blow for the FA follows on the heels of the Michelotti wages scandal which resulted in the club being booted out of the league this week, the withdrawal of big-spending Ernest Borel and the world five-a-side soccer tournament's aftermath that left the association with a $4 million bill.
Now the FA faces a choice of moving the bulk of its league and cup matches to the much smaller Shamshuipo Sports Ground, which is bound to have an adverse effect on ground advertising and attendances, or coming to an arrangement with Wembley Stadium Ltd, the managers of the new Hongkong Stadium which will be opened the same month as the Mongkok closure.
The gravity of the situation was not lost on Lee yesterday. ''We face very difficult times as we have a serious handicap when it comes to suitable venues for our matches,'' he said.