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Paul McNamara

Owner Jim Wong Chi-chuen has confirmed that Supreme Sha Tin will compete in the Hong Kong Premier League next season, after the arrest of head coach Lo Kwan-yee dragged the club’s name into the city’s latest match-fixing scandal.
One of local football’s most prominent and decorated figures, Lo was among 19 people apprehended last month following an operation, jointly launched by the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Hong Kong Police Force, to “crack down on a crime syndicate controlled by members of the local football circle”.
The South China Morning Post has been told that Lo is accused of offences relating to matches involving Citizen during the 2024-25 season, when he was head coach of the First Division team.
“Supreme have never been involved in any of the conversations with ICAC and the police, and we were never asked to help with investigations,” Wong said.
After winning last season’s First Division title, Supreme obtained the licence of Sha Tin FC to gain promotion as Supreme Sha Tin.
“Nothing changes for us,” Wong said. “It’s a very difficult start but we have to fight and prove ourselves, and all work together.
“Last season, we won nearly every game and there was never any time when I had a sense of anything being weird or strange.
“We had five sponsors confirmed, but two of them have some doubts. Some put their sponsorship on pause, which affects me. I’m talking to them and laying out the facts. I have spoken to the [Sha Tin] district, and they have said they want to continue.”

The SCMP has been told that a number of players from 3 Sing FC, who folded following the 2024-25 season, were among those arrested. They are accused of receiving payments for enticing fellow players to gamble on illegal websites operated by an individual with close ties to the club.
The ICAC and police operation, codenamed “Double-edged”, unearthed irregularities in at least four First Division matches across the 2024-25 and 2025-26 campaign, and one under-22 game from last season. Kitchee have suspended their under-22 boss, Johnny Poon Man-chun, a former Hong Kong forward and the father of Southern player Max Poon Pui-hin.
Supreme are not among the five clubs implicated in the investigation. The crime syndicate is believed to have operated for around three years, with bets worth more than HK$6 million (roughly US$765,000) lodged.
Combining coaching with playing, Lo, 41, who won the last of his 53 Hong Kong caps in 2017, made 25 league appearances for Supreme last season. In 11 seasons with Kitchee, where he moved from Rangers in 2007, Lo, the 2011-12 Hong Kong footballer of the year, won three league titles and five FA Cups.
The promoted club will play home matches at Sha Tin Sports Ground, although the venue will not be ready until December at the earliest. Wong is in talks with the Football Association of Hong Kong, China over potential locations for the team’s initial home fixtures.
“The legal case does not involve the two clubs [Supreme or Sha Tin], so there’s nothing to stop us promoting, that’s the reality of the issue,” Wong said.
“We’re trying to sign some flagship players, and if we do we might be able to play at a bigger venue [from the beginning of the season], but right now, it’s still up in the air.”
Elsewhere, Chan Chi-hong, 49, the former Hong Kong attacker, has been appointed Southern head coach after leaving his post with North District.
BC Rangers have named Szeto Man-chun, another ex-city team player, as their new boss. The 51-year-old Szeto previously managed Eastern and HK U23.


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Sport

Football

Club preparing for Hong Kong Premier League season against backdrop of head coach Lo Kwan-yee being caught up in investigation


Club preparing for Hong Kong Premier League season against backdrop of head coach Lo Kwan-yee being caught up in investigation.


Hong Kong football club Supreme not implicated in match-fixing and set for Premier League

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Club preparing for Hong Kong Premier League season against backdrop of head coach Lo Kwan-yee being caught up in investigation

Club preparing for Hong Kong Premier League season against backdrop of head coach Lo Kwan-yee being caught up in investigation