shenzhen will host the qualifying match between the chinese national soccer team and hong kong for the 2018 fifa world cup in bao'an stadium on sept. 3, a press conference in bao'an district was told yesterday.
china beat bhutan 6-0 in thinphu, the capital of bhutan, on june 16 in its first match.
the shenzhen government has renovated bao'an stadium and made modifications on its lighting and grass, in accordance with the requirements set out by fifa, said ke gangming, deputy director of the city's sports bureau.
for security reasons, the game will adopt an id-based ticket booking system. only one ticket is allowed to be purchased per id card.
the audience seats will be divided into two zones for fans of each team. according to dong zheng, general manager of china football industry development corp., fans will be organized for cheering and encouraging their team's spirit and morale. a matrix made up of nearly 5,000 fans will be planned.
"it is also the first time nike designed the uniforms for the national team," said dong, whose company is responsible for the team's branding.
altogether 27,343 tickets will be for sale, starting from aug. 18 and 8 percent of them will be reserved for spectators from hong kong.
the national team plans to touch down in shenzhen on aug. 26. according to ali boumnijel, assistant coach of the china national team, the final name list will be based on the athletes' health and performance in the chinese football association super league. "the national team is open to all athletes in cfa teams," he said.
china will compete in group c with teams from the maldives, bhutan, qatar and hong kong. these teams will compete for a place at the fifa world cup in russia 2018.
