Davor Suker Joins Hong Kong Football: A New Era?
When John Morling arrived at the Hong Kong football association two and a half years ago, he asked a question that sounded almost naïve but cut straight to the heart of the city’s footballing angst: Croatia can do it, so why can’t we?
Croatia, with a population just under four million, have turned themselves into a modern World Cup force – one final, two semi-finals in less than three decades. Hong Kong, with close to seven million people and a ranking of 156 in the world, remain nowhere near the game’s biggest stage, even with the tournament swelling to 64 teams.
Now one of the architects and symbols of Croatia’s rise is stepping into Hong Kong’s orbit.
Davor Suker, the golden striker of the 1998 World Cup and a former forward for Real Madrid and Arsenal, has been appointed honorary president of Hong Kong Premier League side Eastern District. On paper, it is a curious move. A World Cup icon and former head of the Croatian Football Federation dropping into a modest club in a struggling league will always raise eyebrows.
It has already done so. The reaction in some quarters was simple: why?
Suker’s answer lies in relationships and timing. During his nine years in charge of Croatian football, he built a close friendship with Eric Fok Kai-shan and Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, the current and former chairmen of the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. Those ties have now pulled him into the local game at a moment when Hong Kong is still searching for a roadmap.
His track record is not theoretical. While Suker was federation president, Croatia reached the 2018 World Cup final, pushing all the way to Moscow on the back of a production line that consistently punches above its demographic weight. He now arrives as a Fifa ambassador, a role that this week saw him publicly defend president Gianni Infantino, but his new title in Hong Kong hints at something more hands-on.
Honorary president is a broad label. It can mean little more than a name on headed paper, a ceremonial role rolled out for photo opportunities. It can also become a conduit: knowledge, contacts, and a different way of thinking about player development and elite competition.
That is the real intrigue here. Hong Kong’s football story has too often been one of drift and resignation. Suker’s presence does not magically rewrite that script. Yet when a country of four million keeps finding its way into the last four of the World Cup, and one of its most famous sons walks through your door, the question Morling asked on arrival returns with fresh urgency.
If Croatia can keep living among the giants, what exactly is stopping Hong Kong from even getting in the room?
