Hong Kong gamers forced to withdraw from AFC eAsian Cup after organisers fail to get team’s name right
- Officials say matter went unresolved despite days of negotiations, leaving them no choice but to withdraw
- Decision based on guidelines issued after several national anthem blunders involving Hong Kong teams in 2022
Hong Kong’s gamers have been forced to withdraw from the AFC eAsian Cup in Qatar on the day the competition was expected to start, because organisers could not display the team’s full name correctly.
According to a statement from the city’s football association, days of negotiations to get ‘Hong Kong, China’ on the screen, rather than just Hong Kong, failed to resolve the issue.
The Football Association of Hong Kong, China said it “regretted the decision”.
“The HKFA learned on 29 January that the Konami’s eFootball 2024 gaming application adopted by the AFC eAsian Cup 2023 is unable to correctly display our team name of ‘Hong Kong, China’,” the governing body said in a statement.
“Upon days of negotiation with the organiser, no satisfactory solution could be found to resolve the issue. As such, based on the guidelines and advice from the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, we have informed AFC our decision to withdraw from the AFC eAsian Cup 2023.”
The inaugural edition of the eAsian Cup had been expected to involve 20 teams, placed in groups of three. The five-day tournament started on Thursday, with the group stage scheduled to continue on Friday.
Hong Kong, represented by Wong Yiu-hang, Choi Ka-lok and Jason Liem, were in Group C alongside two countries their football-playing counterparts had also gone up against, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
