2024 FAS Congress reveals new plans to elevate Singapore football at home and abroad.

Following the conclusion of the FAS Congress at Sheraton Towers on Sept 16, FAS president Bernard Tan announced that the association is set to embark on a new initiative to support the development of its elite footballers. Starting in 2025, FAS will focus on facilitating opportunities for top players to gain valuable experience by competing in more competitive overseas leagues in Europe and Asia. This strategic move aims to elevate the level of Singaporean football and provide players with the necessary exposure to reach their fullest potential on the global stage.

He told The Straits Times: “If we have a good youth development system, younger players would debut into the Singapore Premier League (SPL) earlier, and if you are excellent, you could seek a big transfer to senior leagues overseas before the age of 25.

“We can assist them to go to trials and we can encourage overseas clubs to look at our players that are of a high quality... We are discussing some of the mechanisms in which we can support players who earn slots overseas.”

On the home front, if the move to naturalise the likes of Liverpool-born Perry Ng and Japan-born Kyoga Nakumura materialises, more foreign-born footballers could follow suit to plug the gaps in the national team before youth development efforts such as the Unleash The Roar! (UTR) national project bear fruit.

Noting that Indonesia started with nine-foreign born players in their 0-0 World Cup qualifying draw against Australia on Sept 10, Tan said: “Naturalisation will continue to stay even if we have a full-grown development programme. We need to be open to talents who are willing to play for Singapore.

“But we value citizenship seriously and we have a vigorous process. We don’t give citizenships because of football, but rather we take footballers because they want to be Singaporeans.”

However, while changes are being made to “rebuild” the local football ecosystem, Tan cautioned the near future could remain gloomy before the outlook brightens.

From being four-time Asean Football Federation Championship winners in 2012 to languishing as the region’s sixth-ranked team, and suffering heavy defeats in age-group tournaments in recent years, Singapore football has been in the doldrums.

In his president’s message in the FAS 2023-24 annual report, Tan wrote: “Football in Singapore is clearly not where we want it to be... Our re-emergence back to the top will not be quick.

“But even as we lay the foundation for a brighter future, the competition around us is intensifying. Our Asean neighbours are not standing still. We not only have to run but run faster than our neighbours. This is no easy feat.”

When asked if the Lions could reach the semi-finals of the Dec 8-Jan 5 AFF Championship, he challenged the team to “cause an upset” against the higher-ranked Thais and Malaysians in Group A.

The 58-year-old also pointed out that the wheels for change are already in motion with the launch of UTR in 2021.