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HK X ASEAN? It’s complicated

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Southeast Asian football is on the rise and everyone, from players to corporations, are trying to capitalize. Are there opportunities for Hong Kong football to crossover? We spoke with ASEAN football expert Ryan Walters to get his take.

On the evening of 8 December, Hong Kong played Mongolia in front of a passionate, but small gathering of 3,329 spectators. 1,500 miles away in Phnom Penh, Cambodia played Malaysia in front of a passionate, but large gathering of 25,000 spectators.

While Hong Kong were busy trying to qualify for the finals of the EAFF Championship, the two Southeast Asian nations were matching wits in the group stage of their regional tournament – the AFF Championship, otherwise known as AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup (AMEC) for sponsorship reasons.

Hong Kong fans have seen first hand the rising quality of Southeast Asian football. The Hong Kong team has played friendlies against nearly all of the ASEAN Football Federation’s members over the past two years which saw mixed results. On the club side, Eastern and Lee Man struggled against with the pace, stamina and intensity of Southeast Asian clubs in their ACL 2 campaigns.

The friendlies and ACL 2 matches were valuable learning experiences for Hong Kong players as they prepare for another Asian Cup qualifying cycle next year. Their group will include Singapore, an economic rival and intermittent football rival of Hong Kong.

The ASEAN Championship is a tournament that needs no introduction to local fans, as some, no doubt, may at some points have pondered the possibility of Hong Kong’s participation in the regional showcase.  Indeed, playing in stadiums with 25,000 fans, against opposition of similar quality, would serve as much better learning environments than being cannon fodder for China, Japan and South Korea in the EAFF Championship.

But Southeast Asian football expert Ryan Walters told Offside that he was pessimistic about the prospect of external teams competing in the AFF’s showpiece.

“They’re very focused on it being regional,” said Walters, who is the host of The ASEAN Game podcast. “I think it’s very much something that they want to have that is Southeast Asia’s, that they can own, especially since the AFC’s toying with the idea of a Nations League.

“I don’t see AMEC expanding to the point where a Hong Kong, or a Chinese Taipei, or Guam [could get involved].”

Hong Kong ability to improve is limited within the EAFF Championship. (Credit: HKFA)

There are additional political hurdles on both sides. Despite the fact that Australia has been an AFF member since 2013, the other members of the federation do not allow the Socceroos to compete. On the EAFF side, Eric Fok, who the chairman of the HKFA, is also one of three vice-presidents of the EAFF, and may not wish to rock the boat within his own organization.

AMEC is not without its issues. Much like the EAFF Championship, AMEC is held outside of a FIFA international window, which means that clubs are not obligated to release players for national team duty.

For this year’s edition of AMEC, a number of Southeast Asia’s biggest clubs, including Buriram United, Johor Darul Ta’zim, and Selangor, have blocked some of their top ASEAN players from competing as not all leagues have paused for the duration of the tournament. Additionally, there have been multiple instances where clubs have temporarily recalled their players during the group stage in order to use them for domestic matches.

“[AMEC] needs to be in a FIFA window,” Walters said. “It needs to be in an international window when teams have to release their players, so that we can get the best players available. It is the showcase of Southeast Asian football, so let’s get the best players in it.

“I love this tournament, and it’s fun, but you can’t argue with the fact that the timing of it is an issue – it’s preventing the best players from the region from being on show.”

Hong Kong’s Asian Cup qualifying opponents, Singapore, qualified for the semi-finals of this year’s AMEC. (Credit: FA of Singapore)

The performances of Southeast Asian teams in ACL 2 this season have been stunning. Despite the fact that the tournament has been re-formatted to include clubs from the top member associations, all three Thai clubs in the tournament managed to qualify for the knockout stage.

The Singaporean clubs picked up a combined 18 points in the group stage – with Lion City Sailors advancing to the knockout stage – whilst the Filipino clubs picked up five points.

But this season is a landmark one for another reason. After many years of planning, the AFF brought back its Club Championship tournament, currently branded as the Shopee Cup. Each AFF member – with the exception of Australia which does not participate – decides its own method of qualifying teams for the tournament, though berths are generally given to league champions and cup winners.

As Walters describes, the tournament will improve Southeast Asian football by exposing more clubs to international competition.

“Cambodia, in general, is a league and a national team that’s on the rise, and I think the Thai League’s been on the rise for some time,” he said, of the rising standard of football in the region. “The health of the Malaysian league is a problem – I think JDT is too good. Every game you know they’re going to win, every year they’re going to win the title.

“So, that’s where I think Shopee Cup helps because now there’s an outlet for other teams. You get teams like [2023 Malaysia Cup winners] Terengganu, you get [2023 Malaysia FA Cup winners] Kuala Lumpur City, you get these teams that are going to be able to get continental competition that Hong Kong teams aren’t getting.”

Lee Man and Eastern combined to take only four points in ACL 2 this season. (Credit: Lee Man & Eastern)

Although participating ACL2 clubs received $300,000 USD for qualification into the group stage, the cost of airfare and accommodations likely left the two Hong Kong clubs with no money left over after the tournament. The AFF was mindful of affordability concerns when creating the Shopee Cup, which gives each group stage participant $100,000 USD.

“One of the biggest issues with AFC Cup – and certainly ACL – was that you would have to fly to Tokyo on Wednesday and then fly back to Bangkok for a league match on Saturday,” Walters continued. “You’d have to fly to Sydney on Tuesday or Wednesday night…and then the costs of those flights and everything else was really, really prohibitive for clubs who wanted to be involved.

“Whereas here, for Shopee Cup, flying from Vietnam to Malaysia is not that big of a deal. Flying from Indonesia up to Thailand is not a big of a deal. I think [the Shopee Cup was created] to get clubs more international competitions in an affordable way, but also to have some regional rivalries and some regional pride.”

The football considerations which incentivize clubs to participate are obvious. Southeast Asian clubs who want to grow their brand know that the best way to do so is to play the top clubs from other countries. The effect of this increased visibility is that it helps clubs to attract better players, no different than how Kitchee were able to attract Dejan Damjanović and Raul Baena to the club through regular participation in ACL.

On top of this, there are commercial considerations, too. Companies who are looking to grow their business see potential upside in investing in Southeast Asian football.

“Is it commercial or is it football? The answer is it’s both,” Walters said of the creation of the Shopee Cup. “Mitsubishi and a ton of Japanese companies have a massive impact on this region, and this is another opportunity for them to do that. Shopee wants to have a really big presence here.

“But this is where I think the AFF was smart because people don’t think about how many eyeballs and how many consumers there are in Southeast Asia. It’s a massive population here, and they’re very passionate about football. So, let’s get some really good teams in front of them, let’s have some fun matches, and also, corporations want to pay money for that to happen.

“Everyone wins.”

Kitchee know the value of playing strong clubs from abroad. (Credit: Kitchee)

The Shopee Cup should pique the interest of everyone involved with Hong Kong football. Whilst it would not replace participation in ACL, it would potentially provide a third club with continental competition alongside the two who have qualified for ACL 2. High quality matches benefit the players, high quality foreign clubs attract casual fans, and high attendances attract sponsors.

The latter point of attracting sponsors is a hurdle that has proved problematic for Hong Kong clubs for years. Could greater participation in continental competition, alongside ACL, be a change to bring new sponsors on board?

Consider the fact that Shopee is to Southeast Asia what HKTVmall is to Hong Kong. Though Shopee do not sell to Hong Kong consumers, there are a number of brands on the platform which do sell to both Hong Kong and Southeast Asian markets, such as Muji, Calvin Klein and Donki. None of these companies currently sponsor football, but could they be enticed to do so when presented with the opportunity to put their brand in front of tens of thousands of Hong Kongers and Southeast Asians?

Furthermore, could there be local companies that could see the potential of this tournament as a way to gain entry into the Southeast Asian market?

Even then, there is no guarantee that the AFF would be interested. Hong Kong, by itself, may not be attractive as a football or business opportunity for the AFF, but what if the giants of East Asian football got involved?

Attracting sponsors has been difficult for all involved in Hong Kong football, though the HKFA have had more success since qualifying for the 2023 Asian Cup. (Credit: HKFA)

Walters was skeptical that the Shopee Cup would ever open its doors to non-Southeast Asian clubs as the federation would not wish to overlap with ACL. However, he was open-minded to the possibility of co-operation between the EAFF and AFF on an international level.

Offside presented Walters with a hypothetical 16-team tournament involving national teams from both federations. The top associations from both federations would receive automatic bids into the group stage by virtue of their place in the FIFA Rankings, while the remaining spots would be up for grabs via a qualification playoff.

“I do think some more cooperation between AFF and EAFF would make sense because as good as Indonesia are getting [and] as good as Thailand have been, they’re not Korea, Japan, or Australia’s level,” he said, of the idea. “Japan’s going to go into the next World Cup as one of the four or five best teams in the world. So, I think if Southeast Asian sides want to get there, getting yourself some more regular competition outside of World Cup qualifiers is not a bad idea.

“AMEC’s exciting in a lot of ways, but when you look at the squads that are available, when you look at the fact that the biggest leagues aren’t even paused right now, it also needs a reformat. I think EAFF and AFF both need to look at the way they’re doing international tournaments and consider what the future might be.”

With the future of the EAFF Championship uncertain, and with limited opportunities for Hong Kong clubs to gain entry to continental club competitions, perhaps a combined EAFF-AFF tournament is Hong Kong’s best hope. Regardless of whether or when that day comes, stakeholders in the football community must continue to be open-minded in their search for opportunities to improve.

When there are opportunities for local clubs to challenge themselves against foreign teams, the default instinct should be to seize them. Though there will be naysayers, and concerns about costs and quality of foreign opposition, local clubs should adopt the following attitude: Anyplace, anytime, anywhere.

HK X ASEAN? It’s complicated
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