The Hong Kong FA was "left red-faced and out of pocket after only managing to sell half the tickets for Tuesday's glamour friendly against Argentina" to mark its centenary, according to Patrick Johnston of REUTERS. Only 20,230 "turned up at the 40,000 capacity Hong Kong Stadium on Tuesday." The HKFA "needed a full house in order to break even" after pricing the cost of staging the fixture at HK$30M ($3.8M). HKFA CEO Mark Sutcliffe said, "It is a shame. The second-best team in the world is here and we have a half-empty stadium." Expensive ticket prices "could be blamed, while many other Hong Kong residents simply have far more important things to worry about than football." Thousands of pro-democracy protesters "have taken to the streets of the Chinese-controlled city." Central parts of Hong Kong "have been brought to a standstill by protests." HKFA Chair Brian Leung Hung-tak and President Timothy Fok Hun-tsing "would pay for 80 percent of the losses on the match, with board members Ken Ng Kin and Pui Kwan-kay picking up the rest of bill" (REUTERS, 10/15).
