Asian football bosses order Hong Kong side Lee Man to play AFC Cup clash in Mongolia, deny neutral venue request
- Hong Kong club had been expecting to host playoff against Athletic 220 but city’s Covid-19 lockdown forced change of plan
- Manager Chan Hiu-ming disappointed in decision not to delay game until June, says team will fly to Thailand to prepare
Asian football bosses will not let Hong Kong Premier League club Lee Man switch their AFC Cup playoff game next month against Mongolia’s Athletic 220 to a neutral venue in June.
The two sides had been expected to play in Hong Kong on April 19, with the winners progressing to the group stages of the competition. But with the government shutting down all sport in the city since January, Lee Man had asked for the fixture to be moved to Taiwan.
However, the Asian Football Confederation said the game must be played on its original date, and ordered it be played in Mongolia.
The winners will face Hong Kong side Eastern Long Lions, Tainan City of Taiwan, and MUST CPK of Macau in the group stages. With games being played in Tainan in June.
“We were just told the match will now move to Mongolia under the original schedule,” Chan Hiu-ming, the Lee Man manager, said. “We were disappointed of course as all the effort spent was in vain, but because this is the decision of the Asian Football Confederation, we have to follow.
Lee Man become second Hong Kong side forced to head overseas by Covid rules
“We thought the AFC would help us in relocating the match as they are the governing body, but apparently they only decided to relocate the match to the opposition side without considering our concerns.
“The HKFA has been helpful in resolving the problems but there is little we can do without the help of the governing body.”
Chan said they now plan to go to Thailand next week for a training camp before flying to Mongolia for the play-off, which will now take place at Athletic 220’s home ground in the capital Ulaanbaatar.
“We have stopped training since January and are not sure if the players can get their form back in time for the one-off match,” the manager said. “But that’s the best we can do and a lot of hard work will be required from the players.
“We also have to plan if we win the tie, should we come back to Hong Kong where no training facilities will be available and no one knows when they will open again, or find another country for another training camp.
“There will be a big financial concern from the club management as the domestic season has already been abandoned under the pandemic with no income.”
Lee Man played Athletic 220 in last year’s AFC Cup group stage, easily beating the Mongolian side 5-1 at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground.
But Chan is taking nothing for granted in next month’s fixture.
“Technically we are a much better side as you can tell from the result of last match when we met,” Chan said. “But we will have to face many uncertainties this time.
“Unlike last year when we met them during the season with all the players in great shape, we need to raise their form after such a long break within one month.
“Also, we have to fly to Mongolia for the match which will take place on an artificial turf as far as we know. Acclimatisation will be another problem.”
