The Football Association of Hong Kong, China Limited ( HKFA ; Chinese : 中國香港足球總會 ) is the governing body of association football in Hong Kong . Its current chairman is Eric Fok.
31-601: The HKFA was established in 1914. It is one of the oldest football federations in Asia and is responsible for organising various football competitions including professional and amateur leagues, football development and promoting football in Hong Kong. In 1954, HKFA joined FIFA , and was also one of twelve founding associations of the Asian Football Confederation . Hong Kong played an important role in
62-692: A national training centre in Tseung Kwan O. The budget of construction will be fully supported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club . On 29 November 2015, Asian Football Confederation awarded the AFC Developing Member Association of the Year award to Hong Kong Football Association in recognition of its professional administration and governance as well its exceptional contribution to the development and promotion of
93-605: A report from one of the victims but declined to intervene as the coach was no longer a staff member, stating "We feel there is no authority to intervene in the case after careful consideration since the case did not involve the association's current staff or took place at an association-sponsored event." In May 2023, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested 23 people suspected of match fixing in lower divisions, including 1 coach and 11 players. Pui Kwan Kay, then-chairman of
124-578: Is Pui Kwan Kay SBS and its chairman is Eric Fok JP . The CEO post has been eliminated since Joaquin Tam Chau Long's resignation as CEO. Tam's tenure was reported by media to have been controversial, with some executives leaving the association on his first day in office, along with being involved in two separate lawsuits with employees later. Project Phoenix is a government-supported action plan to reform Hong Kong football from top to bottom. Former The FA executive director David Davies led
155-856: Is the AFC Women's Champions League which was launched in the 2024–25 season. The second-tier men's tournament is the AFC Champions League Two , while the third-tier tournament is the AFC Challenge League , which were both revamped and rebranded in 2024. AFC runs an annual Asian futsal club tournament, the AFC Futsal Club Championship for futsal club competition. FIFA Men's World Ranking FIFA Women's World Ranking World Football Elo Ratings for AFC members: The AFC Club Competitions Ranking ranks its member associations by results in
186-796: Is the governing body of association football , beach soccer , and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia . The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation (ALFC) was the section of AFC that managed women's association football in Asia. The group was independently founded in April 1968 in a meeting involving Taiwan , British Hong Kong , Malaysia and Singapore . In 1986, ALFC merged with AFC. Notes The AFC has 47 member associations split into five subregions : Central (four Soviet Central Asian countries plus Afghanistan and Iran ), East (eight East Asian nations and two Micronesian territories: Guam and
217-668: Is the governing body for football in Hong Kong . The first football club of Hong Kong is Hong Kong Football Club , usually known as "The Club", founded in 1886. The club is one of the oldest existing football clubs in Asia. The first football competition of Hong Kong is the Challenge Shield , which founded in 1898. Its format is similar to the FA Challenge Cup in England. Tracing back to early 20th century,
248-674: The Northern Mariana Islands ), South (five countries on the Indian Subcontinent plus Maldives and Sri Lanka ), South East (ten ASEAN countries plus Australia and East Timor ), and West (twelve Arab countries ). Afghanistan , Burma (Myanmar) , the Republic of China , Hong Kong , India , Indonesia , Israel , Japan , Pakistan , the Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , and Vietnam were
279-662: The Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China warned to withhold government funding of HKFA, the HKFA eventually adopted the name change to "The Football Association of Hong Kong, China" during the annual meeting of the HKFA in March 2023. In February 2024, the HKFA withdrew the esports team from AFC eAsian Cup 2023 just because the AFC and KONAMI did not use "Hong Kong, China" instead of "Hong Kong" (previous name of
310-616: The Third Division (D3 League). Most of the teams in the lower divisions are amateur with the occasional semi-professional team. The bottom team of the Third Division League are eliminated from the league system. Disaffiliation All the cup competitions are also organized by the HKFA. Among them, the HKFA Cup and Senior Shield are probably the oldest professional football competitions in Asia - even earlier than
341-618: The 1,000th goal in Asian Cup history in the team’s return to the competition’s finals for the first time since 1968, despite the team losing 3-1 to the United Arab Emirates . The Hong Kong women's national football team qualified for 14 consecutive AFC Women's Asian Cups between 1975 and 2003. However, the team has not qualified for a major tournament since the 2003 AFC Women's Championship . Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation ( AFC )
SECTION 10
#1732766054418372-532: The 1970s and 1980s, football in Hong Kong was strong and popular, with competitive local teams boosted by well known overseas players and managers, playing in front crowds of tens of thousands. In 1985, in a famous match, Hong Kong upset China , 2-1 , in Beijing to move towards a place in the 1986 World Cup . The team ultimately fell short of qualification. In recent years, major attempts have been made by Hong Kong government to improve both HKFA’s governance and
403-1021: The Asian qualifying tournament for the FIFA World Cup and for football at the Summer Olympics . The top-ranked AFC tournament for men's association football clubs is the AFC Champions League Elite . The competition is an amalgamation of the Asian Club Championship , the Asian Cup Winners' Cup and the Asian Super Cup and gathers the top teams from the highest-ranked nations in Asia (the number of teams depend on that country's ranking and can be upgraded or downgraded). The top-ranked AFC tournament for women's association football clubs
434-601: The CEO of HKFA. On 7 February 2013, the Hong Kong Football Association stated that the new Premier League would get under way in Autumn 2014, where it was suggested that the 2013–14 season would be a transition year. On 28 May 2013, HKFA promoted Korean coach Kim Pan-Gon to replace Ernie Merrick as the head coach of Hong Kong national team . In June 2015, The Government turned green light to build
465-693: The HKFA) in the display name for the team. In terms of government funding, the HKFA has been one of the top receivers of taxpayer money out of all National Sports Associations in Hong Kong. Excluding one-time grants, it receives money from the Sports Subvention Scheme (SSS) and the Arts and Sport Development Fund (ASDF). Hong Kong football league Association football is the most popular sport in Hong Kong , followed by rugby union . The Football Association of Hong Kong, China (HKFA)
496-465: The HKFA, said that the scandal "would not have much effect on the holistic development of Hong Kong football" and that match fixing "is relatively hard to regulate." In June 2024, the ex-head coach of Hong Kong football team, Jorn Andersen, said that HKFA receiving millions of taxpayer dollars every year made the HKFA have no motivation to improve, and said that the HKFA needed to be "more professional, from top to bottom," and did "not do enough" to improve
527-477: The Hong Kong football league was founded in 1908. It is probably the oldest professional league in Asia. Most records before the Second World War have been lost and not many people can remember the old glory of Hong Kong's professional football. The Hong Kong Football Association, the governing body of Hong Kong football, was founded in 1914 and is one of the oldest football associations in Asia. In
558-557: The association's use of taxpayer funding, was not active between 2015 and 2019, despite receiving HK$ 34 million in funding for the 2017-18 year. Members of the Legislative Council also questioned if that taxpayer money was justified and well spent. After HKFA's governance was criticized, the Legislative Council wanted to appoint board members to improve HKFA's governance, but the HKFA rejected the idea and claimed candidates should go through proper election procedures. In 2020,
589-558: The colonial period. Even after 1997 the transfer of sovereignty to China , it continues to represent Hong Kong separately from the People's Republic of China as its own national team in international competitions due to the " One country, two systems " principle. The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup , with the closest time being the 1986 World Cup cycle , which also highlighted their most successful period. On 14 January 2024, Hong Kong midfielder Philip Chan Siu-kwan scored
620-538: The early development of Asian football, and was given the honour of hosting the first Asian Cup competition in 1956 , in which Hong Kong finished third in the tournament. Hong Kong fields a separate FIFA-recognised representative team instead of the China PR national team. HKFA is also responsible for operating the Hong Kong national football team ( Chinese : 香港足球代表隊 ), which represents Hong Kong and competes in international football events. HKFA's president
651-541: The founding members. National teams: Esports Clubs: Defunct National teams: Clubs: AFC runs the AFC Asian Cup and the AFC Women's Asian Cup , which are held every 4 years. AFC organises the AFC Futsal Asian Cup , AFC Women's Futsal Asian Cup , AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup , various age-level international association football, youth futsal tournaments and
SECTION 20
#1732766054418682-410: The game at all levels within the country. On 4 December 2019, Asian Football Confederation awarded the AFC Developing Member Association of the Year award to the Hong Kong Football Association in recognition of excellent work in football development, women and girls football, community and district football, referee development, sports science, charitable projects and the expansion of facilities with
713-465: The government's Audit Commission criticized HKFA, stating that the government had given HK$ 160,000,000 of taxpayer money to the HKFA but there was little improvement, and that Project Phoenix had a "lack of progress". The report stated that some performance metrics had even declined since 2009, rather than improving. In August 2022, a former coach of the women's team was arrested for alleged sexual harassment of two female players. The association received
744-641: The league. There are several cup competitions for clubs at different levels of the football pyramid. The most important cup competition is the Senior Shield , with the winners of the FA Cup qualifying for the play-off of AFC Champions League Two . There have also been a number of other cup competitions which are no longer run: The Hong Kong national football team represents Hong Kong in men's international football events. The team competed their first international match in 1947 against South Korea during
775-520: The national head coach of Hong Kong Football Team. Merrick told to media that he felt honor to have an opportunity to participate the development and growing of Hong Kong football. Merrick won two titles in six season for Melbourne Victory . He started his new role on 9 January 2012. On 23 December 2011, Kim Pan-Gon named national academy coach. Coach Kim will be wholly responsible for the identification, development and coaching of all players aged 18 and below. On 17 April 2012, Australian Steve O'Connor
806-416: The opening on the long-awaited Football Training Centre. In March 2023, the football association changed its name from "The Hong Kong Football Association" ( Chinese : 香港足球總會 ) to " The Football Association of Hong Kong, China " ( Chinese : 中國香港足球總會 ) as a result of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China threatening to withdraw government funding for the HKFA. The rebrand
837-562: The quality of Hong Kong football under a government scheme called ‘ Project Phoenix’ . All the football leagues are organized by the HKFA. The Hong Kong Premier League began its first season in 2014–15 and is the top flight in Hong Kong. There are 11 teams who compete in the league, all of whom are fully professional. The lower divisions consist of the First Division (D1 League), the Second Division (D2 League), and
868-418: The sport. He also named Eric Fok as not taking enough action for the sport. After the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, the HKFA has used the founding name - the "Hong Kong Football Association" until 2023. In early 2023, the HKFA and other Hong Kong national sports associations were required by the " Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China " to add "China" to the name of the association. As
899-628: The team of change agent - Scott Wilson Group , which was appointed by Hong Kong Football Association in September 2010 to carry out the reform and restructuring of football in Hong Kong. On 21 November 2011, HKFA named Gordon McKie as its first chief executive officer (CEO). Gordon, the former chairman of the Scottish Rugby Union , had served HKFA for only ten months and resign from his post in September 2012 with personal reasons. On 17 December 2011, HKFA appointed Ernie Merrick as
930-531: Was accompanied by a new emblem and a new emblem for the Hong Kong national football team . Timothy Fok has served as president of the Hong Kong Football Association since 1997, after his father held the position for almost 30 years. In July 2020, the Legislative Council's Public Accounts Committee criticized the HKFA under Timothy Fok, stating its governance was "appalling and inexcusable". It noted that an internal audit committee, designed to review
961-589: Was appointed as the new technical director. The former head coach of the football program at the Australian Institute of Sport will take up his new post in will be responsible to improve the standards of local coaching, referee development, community and youth football activities and women's football. He will also oversee the implementation of elite player development pathways from grassroots football to senior international level. On 17 September 2012, HKFA appointed Mark Sutcliffe to replace Gordon Mckie as