‘The whole saga is a joke,’ says Southern chief after Hong Kong’s AFC Champions League debacle is finally resolved
Southern chairman Chan Man-chun hits out at Hong Kong FA calling the episode ‘a joke’
All parties concerned are losers in the recent AFC Champions League eligibility fiasco as professional soccer is very much immature in Hong Kong, accused Premier League club Southern.
The district team was left out of the top-tier regional club competition – despite being invited by the Football Association to represent Hong Kong in the 2017 tournament – after Eastern and Kitchee had their participation confirmed on Wednesday night.
Southern, who had been busy preparing for their debut appearance in AFC club competition since August after being invited to replace Eastern, are nowhere to be seen.
“The whole saga is a joke,” said Southern chairman Chan Man-chun. “It proves how immature our so called ‘professional soccer’ is. I am sure nobody is gaining any benefit in the incident but in return the image and reputation of Hong Kong soccer has been severely tarnished. The Football Association secretariat, Kitchee and Eastern are to be blamed to a certain extent while Southern just look like a fool in the process.
“The soccer community is still under the control of some heavyweights while a small club like Southern have little influence. No wonder so many people have lost interest in local soccer over the past decade.”
Chan, however, refused to say if the fiasco would affect his interest in the Premier League, but said the next thing he must do is provide the club sponsors with an explanation.
However, it was discovered last month that Eastern’s spot could not be replaced and if they withdrew, their spot would go to another nation while Kitchee would remain as the second team from Hong Kong. The Football Association then changed their nomination back to Eastern and Kitchee and were accepted by the AFC.