A house divided: Asia still split on Infantino’s future, HKFA won’t say where loyalties lie
Hong Kong football bosses still refusing to say whether they support under-fire Fifa chief, who is rumoured to be planning Asean Cup visit
While the famously taciturn Football Association of Hong Kong, China is refusing to pick a side, elsewhere in Asia battle lines are being drawn between those that support Fifa president Gianni Infantino and those who want him kicked out of the game.
With little more than two months to go before the deadline to nominate a challenger in next year’s election, a look at who stands where shows a region deeply divided, with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) aligning with its counterparts in Europe and North America, but in direct opposition to some of its member nations.
Having stayed tight-lipped since Infantino’s plan to sell off the World Cup to private investors was exposed, the HKFA this week told the South China Morning Post that they had “noted the recent discussions regarding Fifa Forward Enterprise [FFE]” and had “no available information to be released at this stage”.
That followed weeks of association chairman Eric Fok Kai-shan avoiding every possible public event where he might have been asked to voice an opinion.
Later this month, the city will stage the Challenge Division of the inaugural Fifa Asean Cup; playing group fixtures against Laos and Brunei for the right to reach a final where the winners will bank US$300,000.
The whole 10-day tournament could be worth around US$500,000 to the HKFA, while it is rumoured that Infantino could pay a visit during the competition.