Outgoing CEO Mark Sutcliffe fears for future of Hong Kong football – and a return to dysfunctional days
Next 12 to 18 months are key for game to build on the efforts of past six years, but with no new strategic plan in sight funding could be cut off
The hard-won gains made by football in Hong Kong in the past six years are in danger of collapse, outgoing football association chief executive Mark Sutcliffe said.
“I have a big fear about what’s going to happen in the next 12 months,” said Sutcliffe, whose contract with the HKFA expired at the end of last month.
The Englishman had been in charge since 2012, taking control of the pivotal Project Phoenix restructuring and development programme and driving its successor project, Aiming High.
There were positives, too, such as the opening of the Football Training Centre, professionalisation of the HKFA and the Hong Kong Premier League, and massive investment in grass roots financed by their partners.
“Our funding runs out in March 2020, that’s the five-year funding from the government and the Jockey Club, and that accounts for 50 per cent of our revenue,” he said.