Hong Kong Football Thread II (R)

Discussion in 'Asian Football Confederation' started by Angsa, Oct 4, 2016.

  1. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    [​IMG]

    Hong Kong national football team has left for Cambodia for the friendly on 6 October.

    They will then return for the home match against Singapore on 11 October.
     
  2. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
  3. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    South China Morning Post

    Fears realised as Kitchee soccer training centre in Sha Tin makes way for housing development
    The government will find a new site to relocate the club’s HK$84 million facility, which opened just last year, to address pressing shortage of homes

    UPDATED : Monday, 03 October, 2016, 11:21pm

    Kitchee’s HK$84 million training centre – that is only a year old – must move to make way for housing development after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said last night that a new site would be found for the football club.

    Speaking on the sidelines of the Lui Che Woo Prize awards ceremony at the Convention and Exhibition Centre last night, Leung said the government would find a new site before asking Kitchee to move out.

    Leung stressed that the government “attached great importance” to the Kitchee Centre’s contributions to the promotion of football and the overall development of sport in Hong Kong, but the government had to weigh these problems with other issues such as the shortage of land and housing.

    “Public housing tenants and applicants must queue up for flats, rents are expensive and property prices are high,” he said.

    The 15,000 square-metre training centre located near Shek Mun MTR station in Siu Lek Yuen, Sha Tin, has two 11-a-side pitches, a gym, office and changing rooms. Work on a second phase involving a two-storey administration building is under way.

    Leung added: “The public housing [development] will take place in phases. If we do rezone this land, the first phase will not involve the land Kitchee Centre is leasing on a short-term basis. But before relocation, we will not be taking back the land.”

    Members of the public using the Kitchee Centre.

    Kitchee boss Ken Ng Kin said the club had a short-term tenancy agreement with the government that had to be renewed in 12 months.

    Ng, however, said earlier that he remained confident they could continue their business beyond 2017.

    “The government has the right to take over the property at the end of the lease, but we don’t think this is in the best interest of community development and the development of sport in Hong Kong as well,” he said before Leung’s comments last night.

    “The piece of land is designated for recreational use since we first conceived the idea of the project. It was designed, developed and built under the policy support provided by the government’s Home Affairs Bureau in consultation with other relevant departments for the sake of future development of soccer in Hong Kong.

    “One third of its time is open to the public, which helps alleviate the shortage of soccer facilities in Hong Kong. As long as we run the facility satisfactorily, we have strong reason to believe the bureau will support an annual renewal of the land lease.

    “There may be other land parcels in Hong Kong, often measured in hundreds of hectares that can help solve the city’s mounting housing issue but the future of Hong Kong soccer will undoubtedly suffer a huge setback without the centre that occupies a mere 1.5 hectares.”

    Ng said if there was any change to the usage of the site, it had to go through the Town Planning Board and he appealed to the board for careful consideration.

    “The centre is centrally located within the proximity of the “sports hub” in Sha Tin, including Chinese University of Hong Kong [for sports science research], the Prince of Wales Hospital [for sports science clinical services] as well as the Sports Institute,” he said.

    “Kitchee is also in discussions with Chinese University to develop a Fifa-accredited sports science clinic at the centre as part of its second phase of development.

    “A lot of effort and resources have been dedicated to the project and the benefits of having such a centre are felt greatly by the soccer community and the general public.

    “We are willing to discuss with relevant government departments and the Town Planning Board to reach a reasonable conclusion about the future of the centre and we strongly believe the development of Hong Kong soccer will prevail.”

    Kitchee have used the facilities since August last year. The facility, of which HK$63 million came from a Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust donation, officially opened in September last year.
     
  4. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    [​IMG]

    Lee Man Rangers signed former Belorussian striker Dzmitry Mozolevski. He will play in friendly matches today and Saturday before making his official debut for the club.
     
  5. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=174792

    The Standard

    Are we getting runaround on football center?


    Editorial | Oct 5, 2016

    What's developing around the Jockey Club Kitchee Center in Sha Tin can be summarized in one word - strange.
    It's strange because what's happened defies common sense. A football center built at a cost of HK$84 million must be an investment for the medium to long term, even if it's not meant to be permanent. Surely, it can't be for only one or two years!

    The incident is curious because the Kitchee Sports Club only learned from the media about the government's plan to turn the 1.5 hectare site into a public housing estate.

    If the movers and shakers controlling brownfields in Wang Chau were among the first to be lobbied softly on a public housing project, Kitchee chairman Ken Ng Kin must be among the last to be informed of the Sha Tin plan.

    Perhaps Ng isn't a member of CY's House of Cards.

    The center is puzzling in many ways. Its HK$84 million cost may not be huge, but it's definitely significant for a football club - despite the fact the Jockey Club ponied up HK$63 million.

    If you were Ng, would you make a financial commitment like that without first securing an understanding from the government the short-term tenancy lease would be renewed?

    Only the simple and naive would not. There must have been soft lobbying of some kind before the agreement was reached.

    The department responsible for liaising with sports bodies is the Home Affairs Bureau, under former pro- establishment lawmaker Lau Kong- wah.

    Has Lau failed in his role? Perhaps he should step forward to explain the huge gap in communication when Kitchee should have been the first to be lobbied - had soft lobbying been as common as claimed.

    We haven't heard from Lau yet.

    According to Kitchee, the football center idea was conceived back in 2011, when the government, via the Home Affairs Bureau, pledged to provide policy support. In 2012, Kitchee was allowed to lease the Sha Tin property.

    In 2014, it secured the HK$63 million donation from the Jockey Club to start building the center, which took about a year to complete.

    It's clear to both Kitchee and its donor that the multimillion dollar facility would last two years at most - unless the lease is renewed when it expires next year. Otherwise, this makes no sense whatsoever.

    Football is more than a sport. If not, President Xi Jinping wouldn't have made great efforts to develop football in the mainland when he was still vice- president. While it's a sport for the masses, it can forge unity among the people politically.

    Yesterday, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying maintained his innocence over the fiasco. If that's true, then who's guilty of making the curious decision? Was Leung trying once again to implicate Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah - his likely CE election challenger - because the latter's steering committee is in charge of land supply?

    Or was C Y merely accusing his favorite development chief, Paul Chan Mo-po, of failing in his job to find more land? There are obviously a number of questions begging for answers.
     
  6. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    [​IMG]

    Unofficial friendly

    Lee Man Rangers 1:3 Hong Kong B team

    Hong Kong B team will play Macau at Macau University of Science and Technology on Saturday.
     
  7. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    [​IMG]

    Pre-match press conference for Cambodia vs Hong Kong. HK coach Kim Pan-Gon said he hopes his side does not give away any goals in the match.
     
  8. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    ICAC arrests five from Hong Kong Premier League club Pegasus

    Local soccer community hit by scandal after graft body’s swoop involving alleged match-fixing of top-flight clash against R&F last week as well as reserve league games

    UPDATED : Thursday, 06 October, 2016, 12:12am

    Chan Kin-wa

    The local soccer community was shocked on Wednesday after reports that three players and two officials from Premier League side Hong Kong Pegasus had been arrested by the ICAC over match-fixing allegations.
    Among the five are current and former players and coaches, according to a long-serving soccer administrator not connected to the club.

    The Independent Commission Against Corruption declined to comment.

    Pegasus are managed by former Queens Park Rangers first team coach Steve Gallen and have been considered serious title challengers, but the team was surprisingly defeated by R&F 2-1 in the Hong Kong Premier League last week.

    R&F feature mainly development players from their Guangzhou parent club, which play in the Chinese Super League. And it was said the match result was queried by the authorities.

    Pegasus are fourth in the Premier League table with five points from four games and are scheduled to train on Thursday at 9.30am in Tsing Yi.

    The administrator said the match result was queried by the ICAC, though he added that inquiries began in the Reserve Division League last season.

    “A number of Pegasus match results in the reserve league were suspicious, which had alerted the Hong Kong Football Association,” he said.

    “If it only involved the match against R&F, it would be difficult to gather all the required evidence in such a short period of time, so that they can arrest the people involved.”

    In two of the reserve league games last season, Pegasus defeated Yuen Long 10-1, but also lost to BC Rangers 6-2.
    Pegasus chairman Canny Leung Chi-shan, who is also an HKFA director, was in London on a business trip yesterday.

    She posted a message on Facebook in Chinese on Wednesday night, saying that “[This] all came out of the blue and I am not clear about the details. I will come back to Hong Kong to handle the incident as soon as possible”.
    Other club officials preferred not to make any comment.

    Football Association chief executive Mark Sutcliffe said the HKFA was aware of the case and would respond after the ICAC issued a statement.

    Hong Kong soccer has been hit by a number of match-fixing scandal in recent years.

    In January 2014, six Happy Valley players were arrested by the ICAC for match fixing and the club was suspended for the rest of the season by the HKFA. Only one player was convicted in that case.

    Croatian soccer player Sasa Mus, now 30, was convicted of fixing a local division one match and was jailed for 12 months after his conviction in Eastern Court in December 2014.

    Mus was found guilty of teaming up with his side’s sponsor, Michael Liao Siwei, and deputy manager Hinson Leung to fix the game with Royal Southern on November 30, 2013.

    In October 2014, Leung pleaded guilty in Eastern Court to one charge of betting illegally on another game played by his team. He was fined HK$4,000.

    Mainland player and the team’s former assistant coach, Fan Weijun, 35, was cleared of incitement to commit conspiracy on September 24, after a judge ruled he could not accept the testimony of a key witness, a former goalkeeper, on a phone conversation.

    In 2009, the Football Association called an independent investigation into match-fixing allegations involving First Division team Tuen Mun Progoal after one of their players accused his mainland teammates of deliberately throwing a game against Happy Valley.

    A year later, Happy Valley player Yu Yang was jailed for 10 months after he was found guilty of trying to fix a First Division match and Iu Wai of Rangers was also found guilty of trying to bribe his teammates on the Hong Kong under-21 team to throw their match against Russia and was sentenced to 12 months in a detention centre for young offenders.
     
  9. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=174931&story_id=47076060&d_str=20161007&sid=11

    [​IMG]

    Above left to right: Kwok Kin-Pong, Lee Ka-Ho, Lee Wai-Lim, Michael Cheng Lai-Hin and Chan Pak-Hang. The woman is Hong Kong Pegasus boss Canny Leung.

    Five in a fix

    Five professional footballers and a bookmaker have been arrested for allegedly fixing results of local matches.
    The footballers, all connected to Hong Kong Pegasus FC, are said to have pocketed around HK$90,000.

    Officers of the Independent Commission Against Corruption revealed yesterday that they launched an operation on Tuesday.

    That led to them arresting an assistant coach/player, three players and a former player plus a man tagged as a bookie.

    The coach/player is Lee Wai-lim, who received the award as Hong Kong's top footballer in 2009.

    The players are the captain of Hong Kong Premier League side Pegasus, Kwok Kin-pong, players Chan Pak- hang and Lee Ka-ho and former player Cheng Lai-hin.

    The operation started after the ICAC received a complaint alleging the fixing of matches in the Hong Kong Football Association's Reserve Division League in the 2015/16 season.

    An investigation then revealed "that the five arrested players might have conspired to accept bribes from other persons, including the suspected bookmaker, as rewards for their participation in rigging four HKRDL matches involving the football club," the ICAC said in a statement.

    "The alleged bribes were said to amount to over $90,000," it added, with the suspected bookie taking bets on the matches.

    A number of other people, including players and staff members of Pegasus have also been questioned by the ICAC. Meanwhile, the arrested six have been released on bail.

    Hong Kong Pegasus said in a statement that three players and a staff member had been suspended until the investigation was completed and there would not be any comment as the investigation was continuing.

    Manager Peter Man Pei-tak said at least five of his players and others were absent from training in Tsing Yi yesterday morning, but they had applied for time off for "personal reasons."

    He also said his players had performed as expected last season and appeared to have tried their best.

    Hong Kong FA chief executive Mark Sutcliffe said the association had been aware of suspicious activity in some matches and that evidence gathered by the HKFA previously had been forwarded to relevant authorities including the ICAC.

    "Given the focus on integrity, it is disappointing to note that further allegations of misconduct have come to light," Sutcliffe said.

    "An investigation is currently being conducted by the law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong and therefore the HKFA will not comment further on specific and individual cases."

    Association vice-chairman Pui Kwan-kay described the current case as "distressing" and said the HKFA had put checks in place and urged clubs to monitor player conduct since a match- fixing case two years ago. But "it was impossible to guard against" all potential fixing.

    Given the relatively small amount involved in the case, Pui was asked if low pay for players could be related to the alleged fixing. He responded that fixing was illegal and unethical no matter the sums involved.

    Hong Kong Pegasus chairwoman Canny Leung Chi-shan said on her Facebook page that she was returning from London to handle the matter.

    In 2014, a Croatian player with Happy Valley was convicted of fixing a Division One match and sent to prison for 12 months.

    Sasa Mus had been found guilty of teaming up with a sponsor and a deputy manager to fix a match with Royal Southern on November 30, 2013.
     
  10. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    #10 Angsa, Oct 6, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2016
    International friendly:

    [​IMG]



    Cambodia 0:2 Hong Kong

    Godfred Karikari and Alex Akande are the goal scorers.
     
  11. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Interport Match

    Macau 0:3 Hong Kong

    South China winger Lo Kang-Wai scored two goals.
     
  12. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Friendly:

    Bangkok United 3:4 Kitchee

    Kitchee's non-Hong Kong national team players travelled to Bangkok to play Bangkok United, in order to prepare fro the ACL.
     
  13. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    [​IMG]

    Hong Kong ready to take on Singapore tonight at Mongkok Stadium.
     
  14. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    http://www.todayonline.com/sports/football/lions-winless-run-stretches-five-games-hong-kong-defeat

    Today Online

    Lions’ winless run stretches to five games with Hong Kong defeat

    SINGAPORE – They impressed with a confident and dominating display in their goalless draw against Malaysia on Friday, but on Tuesday night (Oct 11) at the Mong Kok Stadium, the Lions were brought back down to earth as they crashed 0-2 to Hong Kong.

    National coach V.Sundramoorthy had said ahead of the friendly that he would give opportunities to those who did not feature against their Causeway rivals.

    And the 51-year-old kept his word, making six changes to his team as he handed starts to the likes of debutant Irfan Fandi, Iqbal Hussain and M. Anumanthan.

    The changes did not seem to affect the Lions’ rhythm as they started the game brightly and pressed the hosts high up the pitch. Sundram’s charges however, were unable to capitalise on their early dominance and failed to pose a real threat to the Hong Kong goal.

    Indeed, the closest Singapore came to scoring in the first-half was when Khairul Amri’s 18th-minute curling corner-kick almost caught out Hong Kong goalkeeper Yapp Hung Fai, who had to scramble to punch the ball to safety.

    Hong Kong, however, grew into the game as the half wore on, and only a last-ditch save by Singapore custodian Izwan Mahbud prevented Alex Akande from opening the scoring in the 34th minute.

    But Akande was not to be denied eight minutes later, as he latched onto a through ball and calmly slotted past Izwan to give his team a 1-0 lead heading into the break.

    The second half proved to be a much tighter affair, with much of the battle being fought in the middle of the pitch.

    But just when it seemed like the Lions were getting a foothold in the game, Hong Kong doubled their advantage in the 70th minute with Huang Yang rifling the ball into the net after being teed up by Akande.

    With full-time looming, Singapore began pouring forward as they tried to mount an unlikely comeback.

    But apart from Yasir Hanapi’s snapshot in stoppage time which went just narrowly wide, the visitors did not seem likely to score, as Singapore’s fourth defeat in their last five games left Sundram with more questions to be answered ahead of next month’s Suzuki Cup tournament.
     
  15. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    http://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong...sitive-performance-delights-coach-kim-pan-gon

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    South China Morning Post

    Hong Kong’s positive performance delights coach Kim Pan-gon
    Hosts negate recent bad press by beating Singapore 2-0 in friendly at Mong Kok Stadium

    UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 October, 2016, 11:56pm

    Chan Kin-wa

    Hong Kong coach Kim Pan-gon said his charges last night had put in a positive performance by defeating Singapore 2-0 to negate some of the bad press that had been dominating the headlines.

    Hong Kong football was last week rocked by the news that the new Kitchee Centre is set to be closed to make way for a government development to alleviate the housing shortage followed by a match-fixing case involving Pegasus Premier League players.

    But Kim put in a positive spin – at least on the pitch – with a 2-0 victory at Mong Kok Stadium to win the friendly before an appreciative crowd.

    “We did not concede a goal for two games and it’s good, especially today when we wanted to give something positive back to the citizens,” said the coach.

    “I hope they would continue coming back to support us and support Hong Kong soccer.”

    In front of a 4,200-strong crowd, who, in previous home matches booed the China national anthem, there was none of that.

    They did cheer wildly for Alex Akande when the naturalised striker scored in the closing stages of the first half.
    He also found the target against Cambodia in Hong Kong’s previous match, which they won 2-0.

    A powerful right footer from Huang Yang midway into the second period added to the tally, giving Hong Kong their fourth win over the visitors since 2006.
     
  16. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina


    Hong Kong 2:0 Singapore
     
  17. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    [​IMG]

    HKPL

    HKFC 0:1 HK Pegasus

    [​IMG]

    Biu Chun Glory Sky 2:2 Lee Man Rangers

    [​IMG]

    R&F Guangzhou 1:4 KMB Yuen Long

    [​IMG]

    Kwun Chung Southern District 1:3 Eastern Longlions

    [​IMG]

    Kitchee 1:1 South China
     
  18. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    HKPL:

    [​IMG]

    R&F Guangzhou 0:2 Wofoo Tai Po

    [​IMG]

    KMB Yuen Long 1:2 Eastern Longlions

    [​IMG]

    Hong Kong Pegasus 1:3 Kitchee

    [​IMG]

    Kwun Chung Southern District 7:0 HKFC
     
  19. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    HKPL

    [​IMG]

    South China 2:4 Lee Man Rangers Lai Yiu-Cheong scores two good goals for Lee Man Rangers.
     
  20. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    South China Morning Post

    Ricardo Rambo steps down as South China coach after Rangers defeat
    The Brazilian will remain on as an assistant with the Hong Kong Premier League side

    Chan Kin-wa

    Acting coach Ricardo Rambo has stepped down from his role with Hong Kong Premier League side South China following Monday’s 4-2 defeat by minnows Rangers.

    South China were leading 2-1 at half-time against then winless bottom-side Rangers, but on-loan Lai Yiu-cheong scored twice to condemn his employers to a first defeat of the season.

    South China convenor Wallace Cheung Kwong-yung had already said they would look for a new coach from overseas if Rambo failed to deliver.

    And on Tuesday South China confirmed Rambo would step down, but remain with the club as an assistant.

    South China are currently fourth in the table after five games of the new season, with the defeat seeing them slip eight points behind leaders Kitchee.

    ========================================================================
    Typically Wallace Cheung removed the coach after a defeat. But if he does not have a suitable replacement in mind I don't see how this is going to resolve the problem. I seriously doubt that he is able to find someone good because his understanding/knowledge of football is very minimal, in addition he has upset quite a few people in the football community already.
     
  21. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    [​IMG]

    Serbian coach Dejan Antonic has taken over as head coach of South China. He is welcomed by compatriots Nikola Komazec and Bojan Malisic at the club. He is still waiting for his work visa so he will take charge in a few days time.
     
  22. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    [​IMG]

    HKPL:

    R&F Guangzhou 0:2 South China
     
  23. adrenaline11

    adrenaline11 Member+

    Jul 29, 2010
    Toronto
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada


    Hong Kong started their EAFF Second Round campaign with a 3-2 win today. However, I'm disappointed with how we let Guam back into the match after dominating them for 76 minutes.
     
  24. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    HKPL Bus company derby:

    [​IMG]

    Kwun Chung Southern District 1:1 KMB Yuen Long
     
  25. Angsa

    Angsa Member

    Aug 26, 2008
    Hong Kong
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina

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