Hong Kong Football's Ambitious Hope: Lessons from Croatia
When John Morling walked into the Hong Kong Football Association 2½ years ago, he carried a simple, pointed question with him. Look at Croatia, he said. Why can’t that be us?
Croatia, a nation of just under 4 million, has spent the past three decades punching holes in football’s established order: a World Cup final, two semi-finals in 28 years, a production line of talent that keeps refilling itself. Hong Kong, with a population of around 7 million and ranked 156th in the world, can only watch that stage from afar, even with the World Cup expanding to 64 teams.
Now one of the faces of that Croatian miracle is stepping into Hong Kong’s domestic game.
Suker arrives, with pedigree and questions
Davor Suker, the golden boot winner of France 98 and a star of Croatia’s first great World Cup run, has been appointed honorary president of Hong Kong Premier League side Eastern District.
On paper, it is a curious move. A former Real Madrid and Arsenal striker, a Fifa ambassador, and the ex-president of the Croatian Football Federation suddenly attached to a modest club in Hong Kong’s top flight. The reaction was predictable: raised eyebrows, plenty of head-scratching, and a fair amount of “why?” whispered around local football circles.
Suker, though, has not arrived out of nowhere. During his nine-year spell at the helm of the Croatian federation, which ended in 2021, he built close ties with Eric Fok Kai-shan and Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, the current and former chairmen of the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. Those relationships have now pulled him into the city’s football orbit.
Under Suker’s presidency, Croatia reached the 2018 World Cup final in Russia, a run that underlined the country’s ability to turn limited resources into elite performance. That achievement, more than his goals in 1998, gives his presence in Hong Kong a certain weight. This is someone who has seen a small nation organise itself well enough to stare down the giants.
Can Croatia’s lessons travel?
What exactly Suker can or will do as honorary president of Eastern District remains to be seen. The title is symbolic, not executive. There is no guarantee of an instant pipeline of Croatian expertise or players, no promise of a shortcut to the global stage.
Yet the symbolism matters. Hong Kong football has long lacked a clear, believable model of how to climb. Suker embodies one: a country that refused to accept its size as a ceiling and built a culture, and a system, that allowed talent to flourish.
Morling’s question still hangs in the air. With Suker now in the room, the challenge sharpens: can Hong Kong turn admiration for Croatia into something more concrete, or will this be just another glamorous name passing through?
