The chance to watch Ligue 1 side Paris St. Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic play in the flesh "was not enough to fill Hong Kong Stadium" with football fans Tuesday night, as organizers complained that "they would be out of pocket" following the French champions’ victory over Hong Kong First Division League club Kitchee, according to Chan & Kung of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Just 17,000 fans "paid to watch Ibrahimovic’s side demolish the hosts 6-2 in a preseason friendly." Kitchee GM Ken Ng Kin said that organizers "would not break even as the attendance failed to reach 20,000" and gate receipts of HK$6.92M ($893,000) would not be enough to cover the expected HK$10M ($1.3M) cost of hosting the game. He said that "the gate receipts were lower than when local clubs played friendly matches" against Arsenal and ManU in recent years. ManU "played Kitchee in front of a near-capacity crowd of 39,102" at the same venue last year. Ticket prices ranged from HK$390 to HK$990 for that game, with concessionary tickets at HK$290 (SCMP, 7/30).
