Hong Kong football club Supreme not implicated in match-fixing and set for Premier League
Club preparing for Hong Kong Premier League season against backdrop of head coach Lo Kwan-yee being caught up in investigation
Owner Jim Wong Chi-chuen has confirmed that Supreme Sha Tin will compete in the Hong Kong Premier League next season, after the arrest of head coach Lo Kwan-yee dragged the club’s name into the city’s latest match-fixing scandal.
One of local football’s most prominent and decorated figures, Lo was among 19 people apprehended last month following an operation, jointly launched by the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Hong Kong Police Force, to “crack down on a crime syndicate controlled by members of the local football circle”.
The South China Morning Post has been told that Lo is accused of offences relating to matches involving Citizen during the 2024-25 season, when he was head coach of the First Division team.
“Supreme have never been involved in any of the conversations with ICAC and the police, and we were never asked to help with investigations,” Wong said.
After winning last season’s First Division title, Supreme obtained the licence of Sha Tin FC to gain promotion as Supreme Sha Tin.
“Nothing changes for us,” Wong said. “It’s a very difficult start but we have to fight and prove ourselves, and all work together.
“Last season, we won nearly every game and there was never any time when I had a sense of anything being weird or strange.