Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) Chairman Brian Leung Hung-tak has urged local football fans not to bring politics onto football fields and to stop booing the national anthem.

Speaking ahead of the FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifying match between the national and Hong Kong teams in Shenzhen on Sept 3, Leung said that such rude, unsporting behavior showed people's disrespect for their own country.

Furthermore, the HKFA risked sanctions by FIFA, the world's football governing body, for the fans' uncivilized behavior - the most serious punishment being disqualification from the competition.

The second leg will be played in Hong Kong on Nov 17.

Hong Kong is drawn in Asian Group C of the World Cup qualifying matches, together with the national team, Qatar, Bhutan and Maldives. At the start of the home matches versus Bhutan and Maldives in June, some local spectators booed the national anthem played before the start of the game.

"FIFA has become aware of the incidents and sent a warning letter to us," Leung told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

"FIFA sees this as very serious misconduct by the spectators. If this happens again, HKFA will be punished for being unable to control the home spectators," he said.

Sanctions vary from fines to playing behind closed doors or even expulsion from the competition, Leung added.

Leung observed a small number of young spectators booing the national anthem, while older fans were well-behaved.

"I think it is part of national education to teach people to respect the national flag and anthem," he said.

"I guess they vented their dissatisfaction over the Hong Kong-mainland conflicts. I have watched a lot of matches in foreign countries and have never seen people booing national anthems, not to mention their own national anthems. I guess such a thing would only happen between two opposing or warring countries."

Leung referred to a radio program last week on which four people phoned in, three of whom were against booing the national anthem. One dissented, saying he was a Hong Kong resident but not a Chinese national. Leung said he thought the caller was talking nonsense and wondered what type of passport he held.

"If he holds a SAR passport, then he is a Chinese," Leung said.

joseph@chinadailyhk.com

Brian Leung Hung-tak, chairman of Hong Kong Football Association. Parker Zheng / China Daily

(HK Edition 08/27/2015 page6)