All this off-field drama takes the shine away from the kids, who are supposed to be experiencing the highs and lows of playing the game, while simultaneously enjoying themselves.

In England last year, alarming reports of overzealous “touchline parents” forced Sports Minister Helen Grant to publicly warn parents they face being arrested if they get out of control.

Gary Lineker, commentator and former England striker, felt compelled to speak to fathers to try to get them to calm down after witnessing parents swearing at referees and shouting at their own children during games. Unfortunately, such incidents are common elsewhere in the world, too.

“The competitive nature of most mums and dads is astounding,” said Lineker, 54. “The fear they instil in our promising but sensitive Johnny is utterly depressing. We need a parental cultural revolution.”

Even youth tournaments at the highest levels cannot escape meddlesome parents. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has accused parents and agents as being the biggest threat to youth development.

“They make the players think they have arrived when they haven’t,” Mourinho said. “They think about money before the career starts and everything gets very, very confused.”

Although Mourinho appears to have kept a tight rein on his top trio of young charges – Izzy Brown, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathan Ake – there is little doubt he implies that other managers are under pressure to manage parents and agents.

At Arsenal, the club had to ban the mother of 17-year-old Ainsley Maitland-Niles after she assaulted Arsene Wenger’s chief negotiator, Dick Law. She also allegedly threatened to drag her son off the pitch during an under-21 match. How does this impact on Maitland-Niles, who is at such an impressionable age?Liverpool have their own management challenge with Raheem Sterling, 20, and his agent, who apparently wants to force a move away from Anfield.

Alex Ferguson was a master at managing and protecting his young players. His tough disciplinary style at Manchester United worked well for the likes of Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo, and made his players focus on playing football rather than checking their bank accounts.

In Hong Kong, youth players also want more opportunities to train, play and develop.

Research by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Manchester United has shown there is a significant deterioration in performance levels between Hong Kong teenagers and their British counterparts as they get older.

Hong Kong youngsters run slower, jump lower and show less agility. These results suggest youth players are not developing as well as they could.

Kitchee captain Lo Kwan-yee, who this season has won three titles in the inaugural Premier League, lamented he was the only locally-born player in the starting line-up, with the other 10 players being either foreign, naturalised or from the mainland.

“I think the local players are just as good as their overseas counterparts and all we need is more opportunities from the management,” said Lo. “If the teams are filled by non-Chinese players, it will have a negative effect on the next generation and they won’t take up the sport.”

Such widely held sentiments have led the HKFA to consider putting a Hong Kong U23 team in the Hong Kong Premier League in the near future to help blood youngsters.

Providing there are no disruptive antics from parents and coaches, such initiatives can only help youth players develop their full potential.