Hong Kong Football Festival: record crowd brings Kai Tak Stadium to life amid tourism boom

Nearly 50,000 fans packed into Kai Tak Stadium on Saturday for the first game of the inaugural Hong Kong Football Festival, providing a raucous atmosphere and highlighting what the city’s leader had earlier called an energised tourism industry.

And after days of community events, fan visits and anticipation, the real business got under way, with Liverpool and AC Milan serving up the sort of pre-season clash Hong Kong has been starved of in recent years.

A Noah Okafor double, plus goals from Rafael Leao and Ruben Loftus-Cheek earned Milan a 4-2 win in the Standard Chartered Trophy in front of a record 49,704 crowd. For Liverpool, Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo briefly gave their supporters something to cheer about.

Either side of 90 minutes of action on the pitch, there was the traditional dragon dance before kick-off and fireworks after to celebrate the Italian side’s triumph.

For Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, the atmosphere would have further cemented his belief in the city’s “growing attractiveness in the international tourism market”, even as he vowed to further innovate and make Hong Kong a “preferred travel destination”.

AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan could do nothing about Dominik Szoboszlai’s equaliser. Photo: Elson Li
AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan could do nothing about Dominik Szoboszlai’s equaliser. Photo: Elson Li

Official figures on Saturday outlined just how much of an economic boon Kai Tak Sports Park has been, with the number of visitors to the city up 12 per cent year on year for the first six months of 2025.

Source link

Visited 1 times, 1 visit(s) today

Related Article

Hong Kong lawmakers finish scrutinising same-sex couples bill clauses in 2 days

Hong Kong lawmakers finish scrutinising same-sex couples bill clauses in 2 days

Hong Kong lawmakers have taken two days to complete a clause-by-clause examination of a bill to recognise certain rights for same-sex couples, despite strong opposition in the city’s legislature. Legislators raised 33 questions during two bills committee meetings on Monday, with their concerns including criminal offences associated with the proposed registration regime for same-sex couples.

28 July 2025
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific to step up hiring more pilots from mainland China

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific to step up hiring more pilots from mainland China

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways will recruit more pilots from mainland China to diversify its workforce after the first batch of 30 cadets from across the border finished training and started flying. Chris Kempis, the airline’s director of flight operations, said on Monday that 60 mainland cadets from a pool of more than

28 July 2025
There was strong interest in the “Digital Trade Masterclass”. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong urged to speed up digital shift to protect global trade status

Industry leaders have called for an urgent overhaul of Hong Kong’s trade ecosystem, stressing that the city must accelerate its shift from paper-based processes to digital solutions to defend its status as a global hub against rapidly advancing rivals. The call to action came on Monday at an event co-hosted by the Trade Development Council

28 July 2025
McDonald’s Star House outlet on Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Handout

McDonald’s seeks US$153 million for 8 Hong Kong retail properties in rare asset sale

McDonald’s Corp is selling eight retail properties in Hong Kong with an estimated market value of HK$1.2 billion (US$153 million), giving investors a rare opportunity to own fully tenanted assets, as the world’s biggest fast-food chain reviews its real estate portfolio in the city. The Chicago-based group appointed JLL as the sole agent to find

28 July 2025
Chiikawa toy craze grips Hong Kong as thousands queue for McDonald’s promo meals

Chiikawa toy craze grips Hong Kong as thousands queue for McDonald’s promo meals

Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong have queued for Chiikawa toys that come with McDonald’s Happy Meals as part of a promotional tie-up between the fast food chain and an exhibition featuring the famous Japanese manga. Some 20,000 customers were in line on the McDonald’s reservation website at certain points on Monday after

28 July 2025
Hong Kong public universities agree to return more funding if asked

Hong Kong public universities agree to return more funding if asked

Hong Kong’s eight public universities have promised to return more recurrent funding allocated to them if asked by the government within the next three academic years and to follow Beijing’s guidance. In new documents signed with their funding body, the universities also agreed that the government had the right to reduce the amount of their

28 July 2025
Henry Hu and his wife, Chung Chi-yung, established Shue Yan University in 1971. Photo: Robert Ng

Henry Hu, co-founder of Hong Kong Shue Yan University, dies at 105

Henry Hu Hung-lick, a pioneer of private higher education who co-founded Hong Kong’s Shue Yan University with his wife, has died at the age of 105. The university said on Monday that the veteran educator died peacefully the previous day, “with his family by his side”. “Dr Hu will sadly be missed by all the

28 July 2025