Blow for Hong Kong football chief Fok as city fails to secure EAFF Championship contests
- Football chief Fok confirmed as vice-president of East Asian Football Federation until at least 2026
- Hong Kong slip three places to 157 in Fifa world rankings following Uzbekistan defeats
Hong Kong football has suffered a hurtful blow after failing to obtain hosting rights for any of the next three East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) Championship finals.
In an additional setback, the city will not stage the qualifying competition for next year’s tournament, after that honour was instead handed to Kaohsiung in Taiwan.
Eric Fok Kai-shan, chairman of the Football Association of Hong Kong, China, told his organisation’s AGM on March 28 that he would lobby the EAFF executive committee meeting for the city to host the preliminary competition.
Following the Tokyo summit on March 30, however, it was revealed Hong Kong must travel to Taiwan for the qualifying matches, which will happen in either November or December 2024.
The finals will take place in South Korea next July. Mainland China were awarded the 2028 competition, with Japan staging in 2030.
Fok’s position as one of three vice-presidents of the EAFF executive committee, for the term until 2026, was confirmed following the meeting.