Fifa World Cup 2026: Hong Kong players, coaches forced to miss qualifier over visa issues
- City’s team head to Turkmenistan two players short and with two key staff members missing because visas were not approved in time
Hong Kong must play a Fifa World Cup qualifying match without two of their most senior coaches and with two players also left at home after visas to travel to Turkmenistan were not approved in time.
One of the missing players, defender Oliver Gerbig, was injured and it was not possible to obtain a visa for a replacement, while goalkeeper Chan Ka-ho experienced what Hong Kong football officials said were unspecified “visa issues”.
The squad face Turkmenistan on Tuesday in the final fixture of their campaign, with both teams out of the running but with Hong Kong chasing their first World Cup qualifying group-stage win since beating Cambodia 2-0 in 2019. They have not registered an away win since defeating Bhutan 1-0 in 2015.
They set off on Thursday without assistant manager Szeto Man-chun and coach Roberto Losada, both newly drafted into the Hong Kong set-up after the sudden resignation last week of head coach Jorn Andersen.
The city’s football association said it had tried to obtain visas for the new staff but was left with too little time for them to be granted.
“After receiving the resignation of the former head coach Andersen, [the Football Association of Hong Kong, China] immediately processed the visa applications for them and submitted all the required documents,” a spokesman for the FA told the Post.
“However, they still had not received the visas before the departure.”
Following Anderson’s exit on May 29, his No 2 Wolfgang Luisser was appointed on an interim basis for the next two months, with former under-23 boss Szeto installed as assistant manager.
After taking the role, Luisser said he was caught off guard when the association appointed Losada as his assistant coach for the qualifiers against Iran – to whom Hong Kong lost 4-2 on Thursday – and Turkmenistan.
Only 21 out of the allowed 23 squad members were able to travel to Turkmenistan.
A spokesman for the FA declined to elaborate on the nature of the “visa issues” encountered by Lee Man keeper Chan, but said that the association’s staff had done all they could to ensure applications arrived in time.
He added that Luisser also could not call up fresh players, for the same reason.
“We can’t make last-minute replacements, because of the visa issue,” the spokesman said. “I believe my colleagues have taken all the necessary steps to complete the applications, though obtaining a Turkmenistan visa takes time.”
Chan failing to board the plane meant that Hong Kong took only two shot-stoppers to the Central Asian country.
Gerbig, who plays his club football for Henan FC in the Chinese Super League, featured in the match at home to Iran on Thursday. The 25-year-old had been dropped from the starting 11 but entered the fray as a substitute 20 minutes from time.
He had previously played the full 90 minutes in both of Hong Kong’s World Cup qualifying losses to Uzbekistan, as well as all three of their group matches – all defeats – in the Asian Cup finals in Qatar in January.
On Friday morning, Gerbig posted a picture on his Instagram account of his swollen ankle, which he confirmed to the Post was a sprain with slight ligament damage.
“[It] shouldn’t be too bad, but I probably wouldn’t be able to train before the match and would have to take painkillers and strap up to play on turf,” he said.
