香港がｅアジア杯棄権 チーム名に「中国」表示できず

【香港ＡＦＰ＝時事】カタールで行われているｅスポーツのサッカーアジアカップ「ｅアジアカップ」で、使用されているサッカーゲームで香港のチーム名が中国を含めた正式名称で表示できなかったため、香港チームが大会を棄権するという出来事があった。（写真は香港の旗。＜資料写真＞）
　香港は五輪を含めた国際スポーツ大会に中国とは別枠で出場しているが、国際イベントでの位置づけは繊細な話題で、各スポーツ団体は「中国」を含めて正式名称とすることが求められている。
　香港サッカー協会は「ｅアジアカップで採用されているコナミのｅＦｏｏｔｂａｌｌ ２０２４では、われわれのチーム名である『中国香港』が適切に表示できない」とし、「主催者と何日も協議したが、十分な解決策が見いだせなかった」ため、香港オリンピック委員会の方針と助言に従って棄権を決めたと説明した。
　これにより、香港が行うはずだった試合は規定に従ってすべて対戦相手の３－０勝利扱いとなった。大会は１日から５日間の日程で行われている。
　香港の各スポーツ団体は昨年、正式名称に「中国」を含めなければ資金提供を止めると警告を受けていた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/02/06-17:37）

Hong Kong has withdrawn from the eAsian Cup in Qatar because the football video game used by the event could not display the team's official name which includes the word China.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China that competes separately in international sports, including at the Olympics.
How the city is identified at international events, however, is a sensitive issue and its sports associations are required to include China in their official names.
Konami's eFootball 2024 gaming application adopted by the AFC eAsian Cup 2023 is unable to correctly display our team name of 'Hong Kong, China', the city's football association said in a statement on Thursday.
Upon days of negotiation with the organiser, no satisfactory solution could be found to resolve the issue.
The body said it decided to drop out based on the guidelines and advice from Hong Kong's Olympic committee.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Friday it has been made aware of the Hong Kong team's decision to withdraw due to unavoidable circumstances.
As a result of their withdrawal, and as stipulated in the terms and conditions of the AFC eAsian Cup 2023, all matches involving (the Hong Kong team) will be awarded 3-0 in favour of their opponents, the AFC said in a statement.
Held alongside the Asian Cup in Qatar, the five-day e-sports version of the tournament began its group stages on Thursday.
Hong Kong's sports bodies were told last year to include China in their official names or risk having their funding pulled.
Hong Kong's ability to compete separately in sports has long been a source of local pride.
However, its Beijing-approved authorities have come to view that with suspicion -- especially following the pro-democracy protests that shook the city in 2019.
Tensions between Hong Kong and China used to surface regularly at sports events, with local football fans known to infuriate Beijing by booing the Chinese national anthem.
After the democracy protests, Hong Kong authorities banned any insults to China's national anthem.