Kitchee’s Brian Fok denied big moment against Manchester City after club fails to register him with HKFA
- Oversight means new signing is not allowed on to the pitch to face English Premier League champions
- Kitchee president apologises on Facebook for unfortunate incident where Fok warmed up expecting to come on
New Kitchee signing Brian Fok was left cursing his luck on Wednesday night as an administrative error meant he was unable to play against Manchester City.
Fok was about to enter the game as a half-time substitute, but the fourth official noticed he had not been registered. This meant he was ineligible and had to return to the bench.
The Hongkonger has only recently arrived at the club and was not registered with the Hong Kong Football Association.
Kitchee president Ken Ng Kin explained the situation via a comment on the Kitchee Facebook page.
“I don't have time to check but it does look like an administrative mistake on our part regarding the situation with Brian Fok,” he wrote.
“Our staff did not update the registration list with the HKFA after the late contract signature with Brian.”
Ng also apologised to Fok. “It was most unfortunate and we will see what we can do for him. My sincere apology to Brian.”
Fok has not had the best of luck in recent seasons. Before signing for Kitchee this month he was on loan at Portuguese club Academico Viseu from Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua, where he did not play.
He has had almost as many clubs as he has played games over the past seven years.
Since turning professional with Hong Kong Rangers in 2012, Fok has barely featured on the pitch. He moved to Shanghai from Rangers and has largely been on loan since. Aside from Portugal, he has been at Juventud in Uruguay, Azerbaijani side AZAL, ACS Berceni in Romania and the Spanish football academy CF Cracks.
There was some good news for Fok, though. While he did not get to share a pitch with the Manchester City players he did at least get to share a photograph with manager Pep Guardiola.
Fok posted an image of the pair from the pre-match gala dinner on his Instagram.
Kitchee used almost their full squad during the game, including several teenagers.
