SINGAPORE — There is a rising interest, and also criticism, surrounding Singapore’s football following the disappointing performance of the men’s national under-22 team at the recent SEA Games in Cambodia.
In response to this, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has assembled a panel led by former Singapore national head coach Jita Singh, along with three council members – Lim Tong Hai, Razali Saad, and Harman Ali. The primary objective of this panel is to thoroughly evaluate the team’s performance and subsequently provide recommendations, which will be made public.
Singapore had a disappointing outing in Cambodia, finishing at the bottom of Group B. The under-22 squad played to a goalless draw against Laos, suffered losses against Thailand (1-3) and Vietnam (1-3), and were mauled 7-0 by Malaysia in their final group match. After the SEA Games, coach Philippe Aw was granted leave of absence, with assistant coaches Fadzuhasny Juraimi and Koichiro Iizuka taking over coaching duties at the Young Lions.
But the much-anticipated findings of the review panel are not only awaited by the fans, but also by members of parliament Don Wee and Melvin Yong, who plan to address the matter during the upcoming parliamentary session in July.
Don Wee, the MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC, will be asking the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth whether any review has been conducted on the performances of Singapore’s football teams at the recent Southeast Asia Games 2023, and if so, what are its findings and recommendations. MP Yong from Radin Mas SMC is curious about the Ministry’s plans to rebuild the local football ecosystem, and whether the pipeline of our young football talents should be under greater scrutiny.
Although FAS have not released its findings to the public, there has been a clash between the football governing body and an online news portal, TMSG. The panel has reportedly concluded their review and portions of the findings were allegedly seen by TMSG, which indicates that ‘an overhaul of the national football body may well be in order.’
Prior to the release of the information by TMSG, FAS issued a note to its ordinary and associate members stating that the ‘story may seek to frame some observations in the reports as final and perhaps seek to assign blame to specific individuals, which was never the purpose of the review exercise.’
“It may base its story on selective reports, which may have been leaked in full or verbally. This leak affects the integrity of the process of fact-finding and goes against the obligations of all involved to keep the information within for use of the FAS only. Currently, these reports are still in the process of being fact-checked and carry subjective opinions. This in no way constitutes an accurate report. To be clear, the conclusions from the report, which will be released publicly, will draw from a much broader range of sources, including objective data from the games,” said FAS in their statement which was published on their website.
In the article titled ‘A shambolic state of affairs – what led to the SEA Games football disaster?’, TMSG wrote that they are making the information public ‘so that the people in charge will be accountable, especially given that the national football body has itself convened the internal review following the disastrous SEA Games outing.’
TMSG presented a number of intriguing points purportedly sourced from the review panel findings. These points highlighted concerns regarding the inadequate coordination and planning between FAS Technical Director Michael Browne and coach Philippe Aw, as well as the challenges faced by the team during the Merlion Cup, which took place one month prior to the SEA Games.
The Workers’ Party has shown interest in the matter as well. MPs Jamus Lim and Faisal Manap have filed a motion that seeks the government to evaluate and improve on the nation’s sporting ecosystem, so that achievable goals can be set for the coming years. Additionally, the Workers’ Party shared a video on their Facebook page featuring MP Faisal’s speech from the 2023 Budget Committee of Supply (COS) debate, which took place on Mar 7. The caption accompanying the video asks, “Do you remember the Kallang wave? How can we reignite that enthusiasm?”
During the COS debate by the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth, Faisal proposed that the Football Association of Singapore should engage in a national conversation with local footballers and coaches. This suggestion arises from the underwhelming performance of the national football team, which has been apparent even before the SEA Games.
“The Unleash The Roar project meant to rejuvenate Singapore football was announced. Since that time, however, the performance of our men’s national football team has been inconsistent. A former national player called for greater involvement of former players in developing the programmes for our local football scene. He also called for, amongst other things, a dialogue session among all stakeholders, setting achievable milestones for our youth teams and creating an environment for local coaches so that they can focus on coaching and not need to moonlight,” said Faisal.