Coronavirus: Hong Kong football returns to public grounds as Eastern beat Rangers – but fans still barred
- Only a handful of officials, staff and media were at the 3,000-capacity Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground for the FA Cup first-round clash
- Matches were previously played at the HKFA’s training centre but clubs complained about the poor facilities
Hong Kong clubs emerged from their training-ground “quarantine” after two months but it was still far from normal with Eastern Long Lions and BC Rangers playing in front of a near empty Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground on Saturday.
Eastern won 8-2 in an FA Cup first-round match as Hong Kong football returned to public grounds after briefly going underground because of the coronavirus threat.
Only a handful of staff members and media attended at the 3,000-seater stadium, with the public still banned in a bid to contain the Covid-19 outbreak in Hong Kong.
“There is no atmosphere like there is in a normal football game without the support of the fans but the most important thing under these exceptional conditions is we can get back to playing in a normal pitch,” said Eastern goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai. “It’s not ideal because we have limited use of some facilities such as changing rooms but you can’t ask for more as many of the sporting events in the city have already been stopped.
“We hope the situation can improve gradually so that we can get back to normal business as soon as possible but it is out of our control.”