March might be ‘too soon’ to resume playing matches at football grounds, says top government official
- Sports commissioner Yeung Tak-keung attends first-ever match held behind closed doors at Tseung Kwan O Training Centre amid the virus outbreak
- Football Association is happy with arrangements, saying it was a precautionary measure to protect attendants at the game
The coronavirus outbreak has thrown the domestic league in disarray with government officials uncertain when games might resume playing in proper football grounds – and with fans back.
Government officials yesterday were unable to give a timeline as to when the domestic league could return to normal after Hong Kong held its first match behind closed doors at the Tseung Kwan O Football Training Centre.
Kitchee kicked off their first match played behind closed doors in the Sapling Cup with a dominant 3-0 win over BC Rangers but the match was watched by a handful of spectators after the government imposed strict restrictions on football grounds to prevent the spread of the deadly virus that originated in Wuhan, China.
Only a few Kitchee fans stood outside the venue to watch the game behind a fence with the match attended by match officials and the media.
The Football Association said it planned more Sapling Cup matches as well as two FA Cup first round games behind closed doors until the end of the month, with Premier League matches resuming in early March.
Government should reopen grounds for matches, says Pegasus boss Steven Lo
But Commissioner of Sports, Yeung Tak-keung, who made a special visit to the match, said it was too early to decide if domestic competition would be back to normal next month.
“The closed door games are a special arrangement under special circumstances agreed by the clubs due to the outbreak of the coronavirus,” said Yeung. “Our primary target at this moment is to work together to battle the epidemic in the community, with public health and safety our priority. Whether domestic games can return to normal is due largely to whether the epidemic can be controlled.”
The government official said the “closed door” arrangement at the Tseung Kwan O training base would present good experience for the Football Association. “This has never happened before in domestic games,” explained Yeung. “We saw temperature taking of attendants at the entrance and attendants had to state their travel history record. There are a limited number of attendants although there might be over a hundred people at the centre.
“We can review all these measures to see if they are good enough to protect [public] health.”
On the eve of the match, Pegasus boss Steven Lo Kit-sing complained that he would rather see the season completely cancelled than hold games in “improper facilities”.
Hong Kong FA puts football on hold over China coronavirus
Football association chairman Pui Kwan-kay, however, was happy with the arrangements, saying they were “interim measures” and weren’t a permanent arrangement. “If we don’t play behind closed doors here, we can’t resume our fixtures as all government football venues have been closed due to the virus outbreak and we won’t be able to finish the season,” said the chief. “We will monitor the situation closely with the government and see whether we can resume Premier League fixtures in March if venues are reopened.”
Kitchee forward Fernando Pedreira said conditions at the training centre were much different from playing at a proper football ground but as a professional player, he would have to do his best given the situation.
“We are professionals and we have to do our job if it’s the decision of the Football Association,” he said.
BC Rangers coach Chiu Chung-man said conditions at Tseung Kwan O were less than satisfactory. “The whole set up here is for training and not for competition,” said the coach. “The changing room is far away from the pitch and we have to do our half-time talk on the pitch as there is no sheltered area. The wind is also very strong. It is not an ideal venue for real competition.”