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Chan Kin-wa

Hong Kong international Chan Siu-ki denied criticising his foreign-born teammates on social media ahead of two vital World Cup qualifying matches against Maldives and China later this month.
On Monday, four Kitchee players who have obtained Hong Kong passports over the last two weeks, were drafted by HK coach Kim Pan-gon into his preliminary squad for a friendly against Myanmar on Saturday.
Chan - who plays for Kitchee's bitter rivals South China - appeared to hit out on Facebook, posting: “Why do local young boys have to train so hard [to try to make the team] and for what?”

READ MORE: Calling for back-up: Hong Kong draft four more naturalised players for showdown against China
Of the four newly included players, central defender Helio Goncalves has not played for a month due to injury.
Chan’s quote immediately attracted a large number of comments from fans, some for Chan and some against him, who scored the only goal against Bhutan in their last qualifying match.
One said it’s time for unity before the two crunch matches, while another said “There is no future for Hong Kong soccer if we keep using naturalised players”.

Chan later edited his post "because of too many experts", and then posted again, saying he had “nothing but respect” for naturalised players and did not discriminate.
Of the 33-member preliminary squad, 11 are naturalised players while five are former mainlanders from China who have fulfilled the two-year residency rule to represent Hong Kong.
Earlier this year, China caused a storm with a clumsily worded poster talking about Hong Kong’s ‘white skin, brown skin, yellow skin’ team.


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2018 Fifa World Cup Asian qualifying

Hong Kong striker Chan Siu-ki denies ‘discrimination’ against foreign-born teammates

Chan Siu-ki in action. Photo: Felix Wong

Chan Siu-ki in action. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Paulo Carreiro, Helio Goncalves, Sandro and Alex Akande. Photos: SCMP Pictures 

Chan Siu-ki's Facebook post. 

Calling for back-up: Hong Kong draft four more naturalised players for showdown against China

Kitchee's Paulo Carreiro is one of four players who have just obtained their Hong Kong passports. Photo: Xinhua 

Hong Kong football fans betrayed as fear of offending motherland shuts them out of home derby against China

The newly-laid pitch at Hong Kong Stadium pictured in September. Photo: SCMP  Pictures

Thousands of Hong Kong fans will miss out. Photo: SCMP Pictures

HKFA chief Mark Sutcliffe's frustration at the decision is plain. Photo: SCMP  Pictures

Hong Kong fans travelling to Shenzhen for the corresponding fixture were subject to extensive security checks. Photo: SCMP  Pictures

Fresh recruits - Hong Kong to call up four naturalised players for crunch China World Cup clash

(From left) Paulo Carreiro, Helio Goncalves, Sandro and Alex Akande. Photos: SCMP Pictures

Brazilian-born forward Paulo Carreiro is set to become a part of the Hong Kong set-up. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Sport

Hong Kong

Football

South China striker made controversial Facebook post appearing to criticise decision to call up four more naturalised players


Hong Kong striker Chan Siu-ki denies ‘discrimination’ against foreign-born teammates

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}South China striker made controversial Facebook post appearing to criticise decision to call up four more naturalised players

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}READ MORE: Calling for back-up: Hong Kong draft four more naturalised players for showdown against China

South China striker made controversial Facebook post appearing to criticise decision to call up four more naturalised players

READ MORE: Calling for back-up: Hong Kong draft four more naturalised players for showdown against China