More chaos for Hong Kong football as 2 clubs quit local Premier League
First Division champions Kowloon City poised to accept promotion invite, play in likely nine-team league in 2024-25
Hong Kong football has lurched into another crisis, with two clubs relegating themselves from the declining local Premier League.
Sham Shui Po had to concede defeat in their bid to raise the HK$1.5 million (US$192,000) required to remain in the top division following the eleventh hour withdrawal of two potential sponsors.
Resources Capital, meanwhile, have called time on their four-year Premier League stay, and asked the local football association for permission to compete in the First Division.
After the failed three-year experiment of fielding a HKU23 team to boost numbers was aborted at the end of the 2023-24 season, the top flight has lost roughly a quarter of its 11 members.
A spokeswoman for Kowloon City, the First Division champions, said the club “have no information at this moment” over whether they will play in next season’s Premier League. The Post has been told, however, that Kowloon City would accept an invite for promotion.
A nine-team league would raise questions over the structure of the competition. The Asian Football Confederation stipulates member association leagues must stage an eight-month campaign, featuring 27 matches per club across the league and domestic cup.
