HONG KONG October 6 Hong Kong shares closed mixed on Tuesday, with the main index down slightly but the Chinese Enterprise index lifted by gains in energy stocks, such as PetroChina.
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Last year’s mass pro-democracy protests have soured attitudes in the semi-autonomous territory towards Chinese authorities and prompted resentment among a few fans that the Chinese anthem is used to represent the city’s team.
Fifa, football’s governing body, previously warned the HKFA over booing. HKFA has blamed the incidents on “a small minority of fans” who also chucked a carton of lemon tea onto the field during the Qatar match.
HKFA was fined 5,000 Swiss francs or around HK$39,900.
An object was also thrown onto the pitch during the World Cup qualifier against Qatar. A more severe sanction will be applied should any booing occurs, said Federation Internationale de Football Association, warning against any similar conduct.
Hong Kong’s next global match is against Myanmar on 7 November, followed by a home game against mainland China on 17 November – likely to be of particular concern to organisers given the tensions involved.
Hong Kong football fans.
The HKFA said in a statement that it “would like to request Hong Kong fans to refrain from such action at all future matches so as to avoid future sanctions”.
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In July, the Hong Kong Football Association received a warning letter from FIFA stating that it may be penalised if fans booed the anthem again.
