The Rational Ref | Level the playing field in Hong Kong for foreigners who want to qualify as soccer coaches

It seems Brazilian Cristiano Cordeiro finds the lure of Hong Kong irresistible. Having spent 14 years as a professional player in Hong Kong's top flight between 1998 and 2012, the two-time Hong Kong Footballer of the Year retired last year and returned to his native Brazil. But after only one year away, he is back as an assistant coach at Eastern Salon.

Or is it really because Cordeiro, like many professional players who have hung up their boots, finds the lure of soccer irresistible? Although there are no official statistics, it is well known that nearly all successful coaches were former players. Some of the biggest exceptions are Jose Mourinho, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Arsene Wenger, Gerard Houllier, Carlos Alberto Parreira, and Arrigo Sacchi, who famously said: "A jockey doesn't have to have been born a horse."

While there is no requirement for coaches to have played professionally at the highest level, for many ex-pros becoming a qualified coach is a default career pathway.

But in Hong Kong this pathway can become unnecessarily complicated, roundabout and bothersome. Cordeiro is no exception and there are others just like him.

Last year the popular Brazilian said he was returning to his home country to reunite with his family who had left Hong Kong the previous year. Cordeiro planned to join First Division side Internacional, where he started out as a youth player, as their youth coach. He also said he needed to take some coaching courses.

To work as a youth coach, a minimum requirement is a "C" licence or certificate, which is usually awarded by the country's governing body for soccer. This indicates that Cordeiro obtained his "C" licence from the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and not from Hong Kong.