China News Service, February 2. According to Hong Kong's "Dian News" report, the Hong Kong Football Association announced on the 1st that the Hong Kong team would withdraw from the e-sports version of the Asian Cup "AFC eAsian Cup 2023" scheduled to be held in Qatar that evening. The Hong Kong Football Association of China pointed out that it recently discovered that the game program used in the competition failed to correctly display the participating team name of "Hong Kong, China". After days of negotiations with the organizer, it still could not be properly resolved. According to the guidelines of the Hong Kong Federation and Olympic Committee and It is recommended to make the decision to withdraw from the competition.
The e-sports version of the Asian Cup "AFC eAsian Cup 2023" was originally scheduled to start in Qatar on the evening of February 1. According to an earlier announcement by the Hong Kong Football Association of China, the association will cooperate with the Hong Kong E-sports Association to send two e-sports players. and 1 coach to play.
This event is played in a doubles format via Konami eFootball on PS5. The group arrangement is the same as the Asian Cup. The Hong Kong team is placed in Group C. The opponents in the same group are Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Palestine has withdrawn from the competition earlier. The Hong Kong team was originally scheduled to face the United Arab Emirates, and the game was scheduled to be broadcast live on YouTube.
Although the official promotion of the event refers to the Hong Kong team as "Hong Kong, China", the Konami eFootball in-game screen 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 this tournament.
The press release states that the Hong Kong Football Association regrets to announce its withdrawal from the AFC eAsian Cup 2023. On January 29, the Association discovered that the game program used in the AFC eAsian Cup 2023 failed to correctly display the "Hong Kong, China" participating team name. After days of negotiations with the organizer, it still could not be properly resolved. Therefore, in accordance with the guidelines and recommendations of the Hong Kong Sports Association and Olympic Committee, the Association notifies the Asian Football Confederation of its decision to withdraw from the AFC eAsian Cup 2023.
It is understood that the two players and their coach returned to Hong Kong from Qatar late at night.
President of the Hong Kong Football Association, Pei Junqi, pointed out that it is a basic principle to play with the correct team name. The Hong Kong team should correct it as soon as it discovers that the team name is wrong. It is inappropriate that the final match cannot be changed, so the Hong Kong team has no choice but to withdraw. Race, causing unnecessary trouble.
The Hong Kong Federation and Olympic Committee said that it is aware that the Football Association has handled the incident in accordance with the established procedures of the guidelines and has instructed the Federation to submit a report within one week. There is nothing else to add at this stage.