Hong Kong still a long way from the AFC Champions League main draw
In the AFC's points structure, the local league is behind those of India and Singapore
Hong Kong has a long way to go before being eligible to send teams to participate in the main draw of the AFC Champions League (ACL).
The Asian Football Confederation requires a minimum score of 600 points in their ranking system for a direct entry into the ACL but Hong Kong has achieved only 408 points out of a total of 1,000.
The professional leagues of Asian soccer powers such as Japan and Iran have scored over 900 points, while South Korea and China have also achieved more than 800. Even India and Singapore earned a better ranking than Hong Kong with 526 points and 438 points, respectively; all three can only send one team to the ACL play-offs next year because they fail to reach the benchmark.
The AFC sent a team to review the Hong Kong league this summer; of the 11 criteria, HK failed to achieve the 50 per cent mark in five: technical standard, attendance, business scale, stadia and clubs. The Hong Kong Football Association's governance and organisation achieved relatively high scores of 80 and 77 per cent.
Kitchee boss Ken Ng Kin, who is also a HKFA director, said long-term youth development was pivotal if Hong Kong was to improve in the area of technical standard, which accounts for the most points (200) of all the criteria.
"South China have to travel to Singapore for the first round of the ACL play-off because [Singapore] has a higher ranking than us," he said. "We need a concerted effort from the government, the FA and the clubs in order to improve the situation."
