Joint Effort between SportSG and Football Association of Singapore to Promote Local Football
Ministry of Culture, Community and YouthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns how SportSG and the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) can collaborate to improve local football quality, S-League attendance, and Singapore’s declining FIFA rankings. Minister Grace Fu Hai Yien stated that SportSG provides training facilities, technical expertise, grassroots networks, and funding support, with Tote Board funding now channeled through SportSG. FAS is required to submit multi-year strategic plans to SportSG focusing on youth and coaching development, community outreach, and football excellence, including a review of the S-League. Current efforts include the merger of the FAS Cubs programme with the ActiveSG Football Academy to encourage greater youth participation and strengthen the football pipeline. The partnership aims to improve the performance of the national team through structured strategic planning and effective coordination between both organizations.
Transcript
71 Mr Ganesh Rajaram asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth how can SportSG work with the Football Association of Singapore to improve the quality of local football, the attendance at S League matches and Singapore's position in the FIFA World Rankings which has been declining.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Sport Singapore (SportSG) works in partnership with National Sports Associations (NSAs), including the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), to develop their sports. SportSG brings to the table the provision of training facilities, technical expertise for High Performance Sports (HPS), an extensive network of members for grassroots development and funding support. Starting this year, Tote Board is channelling its funding for FAS through SportSG.
As with other NSAs, FAS is required to submit to SportSG its multi-year strategic plans for the sport, so that the plans, including desired outcomes, can be discussed and agreed upon. The plans will include areas, such as youth and coaching development, community outreach and participation, as well as football excellence, which includes the review of the S League.
SportSG is collaborating with FAS to develop football in Singapore, as seen in the recent merger of the FAS Cubs programme with the ActiveSG Football Academy in March to encourage more youth participation in football. The Ministry hopes to see an effective partnership between SportSG and FAS in developing local football and improving the performance of our national team.