A top football official "revealed massive financial losses" amounting to HK$11M ($1.4M) for last week's friendly between Argentina and Hong Kong, "admitting a valuable lesson had been learned," according to Chan Kin-wa of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST.
Only 20,230 spectators "turned out for the match that featured four-times world player of the year, Lionel Messi," bringing in just HK$15M ($1.9M) in gate receipts for the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium. Losses "were suffered after income generated from commercial sponsors and a 20 per cent government levy on tickets for using the venue, were taken into account." Hong Kong FA Vice-Chair Pui Kwan-kay admitted the local governing body "had been too confident about filling the stadium and would be more careful in inviting teams in the future." Pui: "In a long run, we should review the financial implications of bringing national teams to Hong Kong. I would not say we should not invite national teams in future, but we should be very cautious when they ask for huge appearance fees. We also have to make sure the matches are well promoted in Hong Kong." It is believed Argentina was paid around $3M for the match, "one of the biggest appearance fees on record." But "they came to Hong Kong only two days before the match and were poor value for their money." They "only allowed a 15-minute photo media session before the match and none of their stars -- Messi, Angel di Maria, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain -- bothered to turn up for any promotional activities or hold clinics to demonstrate their skills" (SCMP, 10/21).
