Lee Man aim to become first Hong Kong side to reach AFC Cup final amid logistical obstacles

Lee Man will aim to become the first Hong Kong side to reach the AFC Cup final next week, but they must overcome a series of obstacles brought about by air travel restrictions and quarantine control measures to do so.

The Hong Kong Premier League club is due to take on hosts Nasaf of Uzbekistan in the AFC Cup’s inter-zone play-off final next Wednesday (October 20), provided they can leave Hong Kong on Thursday midnight as scheduled. The winners will then meet a Middle Eastern team in the final.

“We can’t confirm anything yet, the weather, the Covid-19 testing and the quarantine when returning home, all pose us a lot of uncertainties,” said manager Chan Hiu-ming. “In the past, if we played in an AFC Cup match overseas, it was straight forward. You booked the ticket and accommodation, made sure your team could leave Hong Kong in time, played the match and returned home to continue your domestic playing schedule. But that all changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

With no direct flight to Uzbekistan, Lee Man would need to fly to South Korea before changing to another flight to the Central Asian nation for the one-leg tie. But they will need a Covid-19 test result for all players and officials within 72 hours of their departure. However, with the approach of typhoon Kompasu, the signal number eight may soon be hoisted and as a result, all the testing centres will be closed.

“We must do the testing on Wednesday and get the results the following day before our departure,” said the manager. “Otherwise we can’t go via South Korea to Uzbekistan as there is only one flight a week to South Korea these days under the pandemic. We will then have to go through Dubai, which has more flights from Hong Kong.