Hong Kong Football Association to appoint its first local chief executive this week

The Hong Kong Football Association will appoint a new chief executive this week, tasked with strengthening the organisation’s governance, which came under fire by the government last year.

It is understood the new chief will come from a top business executive background, who has a wealth of management experience and the financial acumen for the role, but has little football background and only represented Hong Kong in veteran fencing competitions. An announcement will be made this week and sources said he had been recruited from Hong Kong, meaning he will be the first local chief executive to hold the position.

“We need a strong leader who can move the organisation forward using his management experience,” said a source close to the organisation. “Of course it will be an ideal situation if we can get someone who knows football well and who has the expertise in managing a big organisation, but this is not easy.

“In fact, we have had many experts here who can help the new chief executive get acquainted with the football business side of things. We want to rely more on his management skills to help the organisation. Also getting someone from outside football can help avoid any potential conflict of interest so that he can provide better decision making.”

Last year, the association was criticised for its poor governance, with Legislative Councillors slamming the association committee members for their continued absence from meetings for a period of up to four years. The association was also criticised for showing “lack of progress” in a number of areas since initiating Project Phoenix in 2011.