As clubs and fans departed over the weekend following the Hong Kong Football Festival, the event’s success raised the possibility of the city enjoying a repeat influx of visitors.
Organisers touted the festival’s wider reach, with “an estimated 35 per cent coming from overseas to take in the football – and the sights”.
Attendances reflected the appetite for Hong Kong hosting multiple English Premier League sides, eight years since it had last done so, with 160,000 watching two matches and four training sessions featuring Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, plus Italian giants AC Milan.
Ex-Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia was at his old club’s game, after last year attending the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.
“This could be similar, with Hong Kong people having the experience of big football matches every year,” he said. “Instead of the costumes, you go wearing the shirt of your favourite team, but it still feels like a big party.”
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard leads his team in thanking the Kai Tak Stadium crowd. Photo: Sam Tsang
Players, managers and executives were united in their desire to do it again, while Rachael Carroll, managing director of the event’s promoter TEG Sport, said Hong Kong’s “passionate fans, world-class stadium and very supportive government” made repeating the formula attractive.