According to Hong Kong's "Dian News", the Hong Kong Football Association of China announced on the 1st that the Hong Kong team withdrew from the e-sports version of the Asian Cup "AFC eAsian Cup 2023" originally scheduled to be held in Qatar in the evening. The Football Association of Hong Kong, China pointed out that it found that the game program used in the competition could not correctly display the name of the team "Hong Kong, China", and after several days of negotiation with the organizer, it still failed to properly resolve the issue, and made the decision to withdraw from the competition in accordance with the guidelines and recommendations of the SF&OC.
Image source: Hong Kong "Point News"
The AFC eAsian Cup 2023 was originally scheduled to start in Qatar on the evening of February 1, according to the announcement of the Hong Kong Football Association of China, the association will cooperate with the Hong Kong E-sports Association of China to send 2 e-sports players and 1 coach to play.
The tournament will be played in doubles format through PS5's Konami eFootball, with the same group arrangement as the Asian Cup, with Hong Kong being placed in Group C against Iran and the United Arab Emirates, while Palestine had withdrawn earlier. The Hong Kong team was originally scheduled to face the United Arab Emirates, and the match will be broadcast live on YouTube as scheduled.
Although the official promotion of the tournament refers to the Hong Kong team as "Hong Kong, China", the in-game screen of Konami eFootball shows that the Hong Kong team is called "Hong Kong". The Hong Kong Football Association issued a press release in the evening announcing its withdrawal from the competition.
According to the press release, the Hong Kong Football Association of China regrettably announced its withdrawal from the AFC eAsian Cup 2023. On 29 January, the Association found that the game program adopted by AFC eAsian Cup 2023 failed to display the name of the "Hong Kong, China" team correctly, and after several days of negotiation with the organizer, it could not be properly resolved. Therefore, in accordance with the guidelines and recommendations of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, the Association notifies the AFC of its decision to withdraw from the AFC eAsian Cup 2023.
It is understood that the two players and coaches have departed from Qatar to return to Hong Kong late at night.
Image source: Hong Kong "Point News"
The president of the Hong Kong Football Association of China, Pei Junqi, pointed out that it is the basic principle to play with the correct team name, and the Hong Kong team should correct it as soon as it finds that the team name is wrong.
The SF&OC said it was aware that the FA had handled the incident in accordance with the established procedures set out in the guidelines and had instructed the Federation to submit a report within one week, with no further additions at this stage.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Zhao Hanlu Text Editor: Song Hui Title Image Source: Shangguan Title Picture Editor: Su Wei
Source: Author: China-Singapore Sports