A public forum yesterday to discuss the future of Hong Kong soccer was turned into a platform lambasting the government for failing to support First Division clubs.
Organised by political party Economic Synergy, the two-hour session was intended to give the Hong Kong Football Association's 'change agent' a chance to introduce its work and solicit views from the community to help it make changes to the sport.
But club representatives said it would take too long for any new policy to work and they wanted the government to take immediate measures to provide training venues and funding.
'As a professional soccer club, we have never enjoyed any preference on the use of our so-called home ground for team practice,' Tai Po team secretary Chan Ping said. 'We are treated as ordinary users by the venue owner [the government] and have to compete with the public to book the ground for training.
'Our home ground is heavily used by the public and the pitch conditions have become very bad. It is a shame to find this in professional soccer. The government must give the clubs special consideration or how can you say you are supporting soccer?'
Tuen Mun club president Junius Ho Kwan-yiu said they were allocated only eight sessions a month for training at their home ground, with each session lasting just 1 1/2 hours. 'Our coach said we need at least 20 sessions a month for training at our home ground. There is a big gap to fill,' he said.
