Hong Kong aims to capitalise on boom after summer of ‘football fever’
FA chief Eric Fok eyeing bigger role for city in world football after hosting Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Cristiano Ronaldo
Hong Kong’s football chief has pledged to exploit the sport’s mini-boom in the city as a summer of events draws to a close.
During a whirlwind few months, Hong Kong has welcomed leading clubs from England, Italy and Saudi Arabia, seen Cristiano Ronaldo open a museum in the city, and attracted more than 40,000 fans to Kai Tak Stadium to watch its representative team play India. On Wednesday and Thursday, it hosted the World Football Summit (WFS).
Eric Fok Kai-shan, chairman of the Football Association of Hong Kong, China (HKFA), said as the summit concluded that the new Kai Tak venue had “put Hong Kong on the global map”.
“We’ve played a major role in world football this summer, and we want to play a bigger role going forwards,” Fok said, before noting that the WFS had “wrapped up a period of football fever”.
Asked about the extent of his organisation’s ambition, Fok said opportunities would stem from the city’s position as a “gateway to China” and its place in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), the Chinese government’s development zone linking Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong Province.