Four elite European clubs are set to give fans a glimpse of the beautiful game at the 50,000-capacity Kai Tak Stadium this summer as the Hong Kong Football Festival returns for a second year.

The tournament will kick off with a clash between English Premier League heavyweight Manchester City and Serie A powerhouse Inter Milan on August 1 – a repeat of the 2023 Champions League Final.

This will be followed by Italian giant Juventus and the Premier League’s Chelsea facing off on August 5.

The festival marks a long-awaited return by several of the clubs with this being Inter Milan’s first visit to Hong Kong since 1997.

While Manchester City last played in Hong Kong in 2019, Juventus visited in 2016, and Chelsea have not appeared in the city since 2011.

Match tickets ranging from HK$399 to HK$2,999 will go on sale on May 14.

Passes for open training sessions, priced at HK$299, will be available the same day.

Rachael Carroll, managing director of the event organiser TEG Sport, said even with the World Cup taking place before the games in Hong Kong, the clubs are bound by contracts to field their first-team stars.

“Effectively the four clubs are required to play their best available team based on all players available that are not observing the Fifa rest period,” she said.

“Yes, you're going to see if there's a team progressing through to a semifinal or a final [in the World Cup], then that nation may be impacted.

"But because we've got the diversity of players across the teams, you might not have this player, but instead, you have this player,” she said.

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law said the event has been awarded "M" Mark status and received a government subsidy.

She added that she expects the turnout for this year to be similar to last year’s 100,000 fans.

“We are holding the Hong Kong Football Festival for the second consecutive year," Law said.

"Last year, half of the fans were locals and the other half travelled from outside Hong Kong. We expect a similar distribution this time.

“If that is the case, our fans will have world-class matches to watch, while our tourism sector and the local economy will also benefit.”

Law also said Kai Tak Stadium is now more experienced in pitch maintenance, noting that the grass remained “optimal” even after three days of Hong Kong Sevens action over the past weekend.

Asked about a leaking roof at the stadium during Friday’s heavy rainfall, she stressed that the stadium has mechanisms in place to handle rainfall and that it took just 10 minutes to resolve the issue.

The launch ceremony of the festival was also attended by club legends, including Manchester City’s Shaun Wright-Phillips, Inter Milan’s Christian Vieri, Chelsea’s Roberto Di Matteo and Edgar Davids of Juventus.



Edited by Thomas McAlinden