Hong Kong FA Keen To Profit From Chinese Financial Windfall

The Hong Kong FA "will discuss the possibility of sending teams to play in Chinese competitions" as it hopes to take advantage of a surge in football investment on the mainland, according to Patrick Johnston of REUTERS. Chinese Super League clubs "have made several ambitious deals in recent weeks," with Jiangsu Suning shelling a Chinese record €50M ($56.3M) for Brazil midfielder Alex Teixeira after Colombian striker Jackson Martinez joined Guangzhou Evergrande for €42M ($47.2M). HKFA CEO Mark Sutcliffe "is keen to see his clubs profit from the upsurge in interest." Sutcliffe said, "It would be stupid not to at least consider how HK football can benefit from these developments. This will include revisiting the possibility of taking part in some of their competitions." Sutcliffe said that "it was important that any moves to play in China would not affect Hong Kong's football autonomy, while the report suggested competing in the Chinese FA or League Cups were more likely than Super League participation" (REUTERS, 2/13).