Football: SportSG and FAS unveil blueprint to take local game to the next level

SINGAPORE – It is the year 2031 and the Lions are embarking on World Cup 2034 qualification brimming with optimism after establishing their dominance in the Asean region.

The bulk of the team are playing in European and top Asian leagues, with a pipeline of footballers aged 17 and above in scholarship programmes with universities in Australia, America and top clubs like Germany’s Borussia Dortmund.

At the schools level, 30,000 players are actively involved in football in the hopes of emulating their local idols.

This is the vision national sports agency Sport Singapore and the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) have in mind as they unveiled a blueprint that aims to strengthen the local football ecosystem, bring sustainable success and hopefully, World Cup qualification.

In a press conference held at the FAS headquarters at Jalan Besar on Tuesday (March 9), details of the Unleash the Roar! project was shared with an emphasis on eight pillars:

– Pillar One: Let Them Play

– Pillar Two: Let Them Soar

– Pillar Three: Infrastructure

– Pillar Four: Scholarships

– Pillar Five: National Service

– Pillar Six: Enhanced Technical Capabilities

– Pillar Seven: Science and Technology

– Pillar Eight: Whole-of-Society Partnership

Helmed by SportSG chief Lim Teck Yin and FAS deputy president Bernard Tan, this will be a national project that involves the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), the Ministry of Education (MOE), SportSG, FAS, the football fraternity, corporate Singapore, and Singaporeans.

While Lim said the cost of the project will be announced at a later date, it is expected to be on top of the $20 million annual budget Singapore football currently receives from the government.

Under this project, the over-arching strategy towards football excellence is to create opportunities for more young Singaporeans to undergo sustained and structured high-quality football training, with a clear talent pathway for those who wish to continue to play and excel as a professional as they grow older.

The project will adopt a phased approach with the first phase taking place in the next two years to put in place the right conditions for footballers to excel covering both “software” and “hardware” aspects. This will lay the foundation for Singapore’s football teams across age groups to be more competitive on the regional and international stages.

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The brand of football will be a quick and high-tempo one based on a unified curriculum developed by FAS technical director Joseph Palatsides, building on previous syllabi from predecessors Michel Sablon and Slobodan Pavkovic.

With MOE’s help, it is hoped that the number of primary school kids playing football will triple – to a minimum of 2,000 per cohort – providing a steady stream of elite youth players of up to 250 players per cohort for School Football Academies which will be set up at secondary schools. Ideally, they would double their training time to four times a week.

By age 17, they should be ready to break into the Singapore Premier League, and Mindef will provide support under existing schemes to make provisions such as early enlistment and time off so that the athletes can still train for major competitions while fulfilling their National Service obligations.

MCCY and SportSG will also work with FAS to enhance coaching capabilities, supported by sports science and technology, and to enhance the football infrastructure.

Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law, said in a statement: “For generations, football has been close to the heart of Singaporeans. The sport unites Singaporeans of all ages, races and genders. It is heartening to see multiple stakeholders coming to deliver this vision together.

“This is a collective vision of our people and our next generation of footballers. I am confident that football in Singapore will reach greater heights.”

In August 2019, the former FAS vice-president had said it was a “realistic” goal for the Lions to secure a first-ever World Cup qualification in 2034.

While the bulk of that prospective team are in their pre-teens and teens now, Tan said 2034 World Cup qualification is “a good target current participants can aspire to, and is a good checkpoint to see how close we are to our aspirations”.

Lim added: “There must be a sense of urgency to get things right and not stay static when we compete. This project is a very important rallying call for all stakeholders to believe that Singapore can do it if we put our hearts and minds to the wheel.”

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