The stadium where Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal will play in the summer pre-season Asian tour is a hot topic.스포츠토토
Premier League North London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal have decided to play a friendly match in Hong Kong during the 2025 summer pre-season.
Tottenham announced on the club's official website on March 31 (Korea Standard Time), "We are scheduled to play Arsenal in Hong Kong on Thursday, July 31, 2025 to prepare for the 2025/26 season."
According to the club, the match between the two teams will be held at 7:30 p.m. local time on July 31 at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong, a new stadium with about 50,000 seats that has recently opened.
Tottenham said, "This game will be part of the Hong Kong Football Festival (HKFF), and it will be the first time that a North London derby will be held outside the UK," adding, "According to the club's tradition, players and staff will communicate with fans, help with good things, and celebrate local culture while in Hong Kong."
Ryan Norris, Tottenham's chief sales officer, said through the club: "There are very few events in English football that are as big as the North London derby. Playing this game in Hong Kong is not only a big event for passionate fans across Asia, but also an opportunity for the team to make ideal preparations ahead of the new season."
"Under the tradition of the tour, we will be involved in more things than games," Norris said, adding that Tottenham will participate in a variety of activities in addition to games and training, supporting charity activities, celebrating local culture, providing football clinics for youth, and interacting with fans and partners
Arsenal managing director Richard Garlick also said on his website, "Everyone at Arsenal is delighted to be here in July. We are delighted to be here with the men's first team for the first time in 13 years and have the opportunity to meet fantastic supporters in the region. Besides training and playing hard, we are looking forward to communicating with Hong Kong supporters around the world."
"Playing Tottenham Hotspur at the magnificent new Kaitak Stadium will be a great experience for both teams and supporters," he said. "I also think it will be a very important part of our pre-season preparation ahead of the new season."
The Kai Tak Stadium, where Tottenham and Arsenal will hold a friendly match, is the latest stadium and the largest sports stadium in Hong Kong that opened on March 1. According to the "World Stadium," the cost of building the Kai Tak Stadium is HK$3 billion (about 523 billion won).
Because it is a state-of-the-art stadium, soccer fans exclaimed, "I can't deny that this is a world class," "Hong Kong's Allianz Arena (Bayern Munich's home stadium)," and "It's like a spacecraft."
The first match at Kai Tak Stadium will be the 2027 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup qualifying match between Hong Kong and India on June 10.
After the A-match, Premier League club Liverpool and Italian Serie A's AC Milan will hold a friendly match on July 26, followed by the "North London Derby" between Tottenham and Arsenal on the 31st. It is the first time that Tottenham and Arsenal will face off outside the UK.