Hong Kong football clubs in desperate plea for coronavirus disaster relief – ‘we have no venues, no fans, no income’
- Clubs put pressure on government to reopen venues, even if they have to play matches behind closed doors
- ‘If they don’t do anything, it means they just let us die,’ say league champions Wofoo Tai Po
Hong Kong Premier League clubs want subsidies from the government’s disaster relief measures as all venues remain closed with no reopening date yet because of the coronavirus crisis. .
At a special meeting with the Football Association on Tuesday night, the clubs urged the government to reopen the venues in March, even if they have to play matches behind closed doors.
Sports Commissioner Yeung Tak-keung attended the meeting but only reiterated the government’s policy of fighting the epidemic was paramount.
Various cultural and leisure facilities under the government’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) are temporarily closed and recreational, sports and cultural programmes have also been cancelled until March 2.
Secretary Chan Ping, of league champions Wofoo Tai Po, said clubs have been struggling since the government closed all venues in January, virtually killing all professional clubs.
