Call to change rules on SAR passport to soccer
Football chief's appeal after HK-born player surrenders British passport
The "remarkable commitment" of the latest player to renounce his citizenship in order to play soccer for Hong Kong has brought a renewed call for a change to the eligibility rules.
Hong Kong Football Association chief executive Mark Sutcliffe said players should not have to face such a tough psychological choice.
He was speaking after Hong Kong-born footballer Michael Campion, 30, became the latest in a wave of players to swap their original passports for a Hong Kong SAR passport so they could qualify for the city's team.
"It is good that players are prepared to rescind their original nationality because they want to represent Hong Kong," Sutcliffe said . "It shows remarkable commitment."
Chinese passport holders are not allowed dual nationality, unlike British passport holders, which Campion had been until this year - his father is British and his mother from the Philippines. Fifa, soccer's international governing body, requires a passport to prove citizenship of a country, and does not accept the Hong Kong permanent ID card as a form of identity.
This, said Sutcliffe, left local soccer players who hold a Hong Kong permanent ID card but not a Hong Kong SAR passport with "a difficult psychological decision" about whether to relinquish their nationality in order to be eligible for the Hong Kong team. Sutcliffe, who noted that the requirements differed from sport to sport, said: "Other places are able to nationalise football players much easier and quicker than in Hong Kong. This places us at a disadvantage when trying to compete internationally."
He argues that the unique histories of Hong Kong and Macau mean they should be seen as exceptions to the rules and permanent identity cards should be recognised.
