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SCMP Reporter

Hong Kong's junior team  have been told they are not up to scratch for the qualifying round of  this year's National Games in Shandong
The team, comprising under-20 players,  was judged to have 'failed to meet the required standard of the games organisers' by the Hong Kong  selection committee.
'This is ridiculous,' said Hong Kong Football Association general secretary Lam Shing-kui.
'If we lost in the qualifying round, we are obviously not good enough tomake the National Games, and there would be no excuse.
'But we are now being rejected for the qualifiers. We can hardly believe there is a qualifying standard for a qualifying round.'
The under-20 team will form the backbone of the Olympic squad for the 2012 London Games and, according to Lam, it will be a good experience to compete in the games in November, which feature the best players of the same age group in China.
'We definitely want to participate to enhance the boys' exposure,' Lam said. 'Many members of the squad have First Division experience in Hong Kong.'
According to a member of the selection committee, the team's poor track record was the main reason  for their exclusion.
They  lost both their games, against Malaysia and Guangdong Xiangxue, in a tournament in Hong Kong last month. 'Every major games have their own qualifying standard, including the 11th National Games. We cannot bend the rules,' said the selection member.
Lam said the association had lodged an appeal to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which runs the secretariat of the committee.
Hong Kong took part in the qualifying tournament  four years ago, but failed to make it to the finals in Nanjing.



HK under-20s denied chance to qualify for National Games