Hong Kong government yet to approve next week’s international football matches v Myanmar
- Return of international football to city for first time since 2019 remains on track, FA insists, although government approval on safety details still pending
- Plan is for closed-doors match next Wednesday, followed 3 days later by match with spectators present in Hong Kong Stadium
But with just days to go before the Myanmar players set off, the government has still not given approval for the safety plans proposed by the FA.
These entail a quarantine exemption for the visiting party, who would be accommodated inside a “closed loop” between their hotel and the training and match venues.
The association’s chairman Pui Kwan-kay is pushing to get the details agreed so that the trip can take place inside the window for international matches – between September 19 and 27 – put in place by world governing body Fifa.
And he said that the plan now involves playing the visiting team twice: one a training game behind closed doors, before an official international friendly at the weekend that would be played with spectators present.