'Long Hair' chips in on Hong Kong vs China World Cup qualifier: 'I'm not saying it's right to boo the national anthem, but football fans show disrespect for a lot of other things too.'

Soccer fans say there is no need to mix politics with sport as the Hong Kong team prepares to clash with China for one of the last spots in the third round of World Cup qualifiers tomorrow.

Tensions are high between the two sides and Hong Kong fans have booed the Chinese national anthem during the team's last three home qualifiers.

Some had said the behaviour showed the growing anti-mainland sentiment that has attributed to the widening rift between the two, but the fans disagree.

"Everybody knows emotions tend to run high on the football pitch. There's no need to make a big fuss over a minor issue," said one football fan during RTHK's City Forum, a weekly roundtable public discussion.

Another fan said they only reacted that way because the Chinese Football Association did not truly apologise for putting up posters that commented on the ethnic diversity of the Hong Kong team - a reference fans in the city condemned as racist.

Lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung pointed to the choice of holding the match at the Mong Kok Stadium, which holds only 6,400, instead of the 40,000-seater Hong Kong Stadium.