Liverpool to Visit Hong Kong and Shanghai Next Year

Home>>Sports

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 18, 2002

Liverpool to Visit Hong Kong and Shanghai Next Year

Liverpool might prepare for next year's Premier League campaign with a match in Hong Kong, local English news paper South China Morning Post reported Wednesday.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Liverpool might prepare for next year's Premier League campaign with a match in Hong Kong, local English news paper South China Morning Post reported Wednesday.

"The Merseyside giants and the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) both confirmed yesterday (Tuesday) that Gerard Houllier's stars would play against a local side in late July", said the newspaper.

"They want to come," Martin Hong Pokui, chairman of the HKFA was quoted as saying by the news paper. "We're negotiating detailsof the terms and conditions of the deal through our agent."

A Liverpool press officer said:"It is highly likely we will be visiting Hong Kong at the end of July.

Hong said the local side would either be the Chinese national team or a Hong Kong league XI Select.

Liverpool will be the biggest club to visit the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since arch-rivals Manchester United stormed into town in July 1999.

"Liverpool are ranked second in terms of the size of the fan base here behind Manchester United. I heard that Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa is also a fan of Liverpool," said Hong.

Asia has become a mouth-watering market for Premiership sides, most notably Manchester United in recent years. Following their 1999 visit to Hong Kong, the Red Devils paraded their skills in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore in a Far East tour almost at the same time as Liverpool toured Thailand and Singapore last year. Arsenal and Newcastle United have also spread their wings to this part of the world.

Liverpool coach Gerard Houllier said after their Singapore tourlast year: "The fans buy our shorts, they buy our scarves, they buy all sorts of things. Why can't we once, every two or three years, just go to see our fans? Manchester United are doing the same thing."

Questions?Comments? Click here

Lifting the 'Mystical Veil' of China's Jails ( 2 Messages)

UN Official: China Becoming a "People Superpower" ( 2 Messages)

China to Control Population Size Within 1.4bn by 2010 ( 3 Messages)

Global Times: Why NATO Doesn't Want to Accept Russia? ( 2 Messages)

US to Begin Deploying Missile Defense System ( 2 Messages)

Chinese Entrepreneurs Ready to Invest in African Farming Sector ( 2 Messages)