Taxpayer millions mean Hong Kong football bosses lack motivation to improve, says ex-coach
The government gave city’s football chiefs HK$24.2 million for the 2023-24 season, and Jorn Andersen says it has stopped the game growing in the city
Jorn Andersen, the former Hong Kong head coach, said local football officials would have no motivation to improve the game in the city as long as they were propped up by millions of dollars of taxpayer cash every year.
The Norwegian, who quit last month to take over at China League One side Yunnan Yukun, said he did not want to open fire on his old employers, but they needed to be “more professional, from top to bottom”.
Andersen, who spent 2½ years in charge of the senior team, said he felt the Football Association of Hong Kong, China (HKFA) did “not do enough” to develop the sport.
After taking over in December 2021, Andersen transformed a directionless Hong Kong team into a dynamic side that qualified for this year’s AFC Asian Cup finals in Qatar.
While he made Hong Kong football feel good about itself on the surface, however, the former North Korea coach was hamstrung by a failing, poorly-run domestic scene, which attracts scant supporter interest.
An average of 576 fans watched matches in the local Premier League last season. The HKFA received HK$24.2 million (US$3.1 million) of government funds for the 2023-24 season, and Andersen believes this contributes to a lack of action from the likes of HKFA chairman Eric Fok Kai-shan, among others.
