Hong Kong should have a women’s professional soccer league, says star player Wai Yuen-ting
- Hong Kong will compete in the EAFF Championship against China, Taiwan and Mongolia in Guam this weekend
- The part-time coach is concerned a lot of her teammates cannot make the trip because of work commitments
Hong Kong women’s soccer is moving in the right direction but there is still a long way to go before attacking midfielder Wai Yuen-ting and her fellow players can realise their dream in the sport: turn professional.
“The goal should be to set up a professional league in Hong Kong for women’s soccer so that we can be fully committed to the sport,” said the 26-year-old, who will lead Hong Kong in the second round of the East Asian Football Federation Championship that kicks off in Guam this weekend.
“We are making good progress, thanks to growing support from the governing bodies as you can see from our recent performances. But we still have to prove ourselves at international level before we can have our own professional league.”
The Guam event will be the third major tournament for Hong Kong after the Asian Games in August and the 2020 Olympic Asian zone qualifiers held earlier this month.
“Some of our teammates cannot go to Guam because they can’t take the time off as they are busy with their full-time jobs. It’s not easy for them to compete in three overseas tournaments in a row,” said Wai, who scored a brace against Lebanon in the Olympic qualifiers.