Published 12:21 IST, January 2nd 2020
Hong Kong Football Association delays fixtures amid protests
Hong Kong Football Association delayed two-legged Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup and Hong Kong-Macau Interport fixture amid the ongoing protests in the city.
As the protests in the city continue, Hong Kong has announced a delay in the two long-running interterritorial football competitions. The decision was recently announced by the Hong Kong Football Association on its website. The ongoing unrest has forced the cancellation and rescheduling of other sports tournaments including international tennis, squash and golf.
Both, the Two-legged Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup which was held in the first week of January last year and the Hong Kong-Macau Interport fixture, which was scheduled to be hosted by China this year will be affected by the decision of the Football board. Authorities are yet to take a decision on whether the annual Lunar New Year cup would take place or not. Since the start of the protests, the Hong Kong Football Association has been fined regularly by the international football governing body FIFA owing the rogue behaviour of the fans. In one such incident, fans drowned out the Chinese national anthem with jeers prior to world cup qualifying game against Iran following which HKFA was ordered to pay the equivalent of $15,000 and was given a warning.
Protestors set ablaze iconic Lion statue
Meanwhile, as the protest in Hong Kong entered its seventh month, demonstrators allegedly vandalised an HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) branch and set ablaze a bronze lion statue outside its headquarters on Queen’s Road. The iconic statue has survived the devasting World Wars and was a mark of the city's prowess as an Asian financial hub. HSBC has been a target of protesters since it closed an account set up by an NGO after finding that it “was not being used for its stated purpose” of providing aid to protesters. A spokesperson strongly condemned the violent acts and continuous rampage on the bank's ATMs and other facilities overnight, local media reported. Many in the city feel the multinational financial giant has toed the lined of Communist Party leaders in Beijing during their agitation.
Earlier, Hong Kong police said they had arrested around 400 people on Wednesday after a massive New Year's Day pro-democracy rally saw clashes between police and hardcore protesters. The arrests were made for offenses including "unlawful assembly and possession of offensive weapons", senior superintendent Jim Ng said at a press conference, adding that police had asked for the rally to be terminated earlier than planned because of unrest. Organisers claimed more than a million people participated in the rally.
Updated 12:21 IST, January 2nd 2020