FIFA officials have imposed a fine on the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) because football fans from the island booed the Chinese national anthem ahead of a match against Qatar in early September.

The BBC reported that the fans were venting their frustration at Beijing for its perceived political meddling in Hong Kong politics. The FIFA fine is more than $5,000 (HK$40,000 or 32,788 yuan), which the HKFA is obliged to pay.

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In 1997, the British government turned over control of Hong Kong back to China. Since then, the former UK outpost has shared the same Chinese anthem.

Ahead of the game, many Hong Kong citizens were reportedly angered by China's decision to approve the candidates that will run for the island's elections. Massive protests were also launched by those who opposed Beijing.

Besides booing the Chinese national anthem, reports indicate that a juice drink container was thrown into the field by an unknown person - suspected to be a Hong Kong football fan.

The spokesperson for HKFA Sarah Lee apologized for the fans' actions. She said that the police should make sure such incidents do not happen again.

Lee added that they will use encouragement and not punishment to convince Hong Kong football fans to focus their energy on cheering instead of booing and disrupting games.

FIFA said that more penalties will be imposed if Hong Kong football fans continue their "unruly behavior" during matches.

The HKFA claims that the incident was instigated by a fraction of their fans. 

FIFA had earlier warned the HKFA regarding the repeated booing of the Chinese national anthem by Hong Kong fans.

Channel News Asia reported that Hong Kong fans may have been infuriated by a Chinese football association poster in June, which portrayed Hong Kong players as "black, yellow and white skinned." Some fans had allegedly complained that this smacks of racism.

On the first week of November, Hong Kong faces Myanmar. The team's next game will be against China in the third week of November. There have been some anxiety among organizers about this match because Hong Kong and mainland Chinese fans will be seated next to each other.

TagsHong Kong Football Association, hkfa, Chinese national anthem, Hong Kong pro-democracy, hong kong vs china football match, Politics of Hong Kong, Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, Hong Kong pro-Beijing electoral proposal, hong kong referendum