Man City, Juventus ‘exploring summer options’ over Hong Kong Football Festival
Other English, Italian and German sides also said to be interested, as rival promoters battle to stage matches at Kai Tak Stadium
Manchester City and Juventus are both expected to visit Hong Kong in August for the city’s second football festival, multiple sources have told the South China Morning Post.
It is not yet clear whether the Premier League and Serie A giants will face each other, with several of their European and domestic rivals, including Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich also in the mix.
Last year, Kai Tak Stadium had a record 49,704 attendance for Liverpool’s meeting with AC Milan, and then raised the mark five days later when 49,975 fans watched Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur clash in the first North London derby to be staged outside the United Kingdom.
The Fifa World Cup, which finishes in mid-July, has added an extra layer of complexity around arranging matches this year, but prospective organisers are keen to formalise early August dates for two games.
Rachael Carroll, the managing director of TEG Sport, which promoted the 2025 festival, would “not respond to market rumours”, but said her company was “looking forward to bringing the Hong Kong Football Festival back to Asia’s World City in the future”.
“It is no secret that we were thrilled with the success of the Hong Kong Football Festival 2025, which set records for the largest-ever audiences to watch live football [in the city] and showcased Hong Kong’s capabilities to host premier international football events to the world,” Carroll said.