The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is the governing body responsible for the administration of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

in Singapore. Established in 1892 as the Singapore Football Association (SFA), it is the oldest football association in all of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. The FAS is also one of the founding members of both the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly ...

(AFC) and the

ASEAN Football Federation The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) is an organisation within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and is an international governing body of association football in Southeast Asia. It consists of the federations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia ...

(AFF). It has been affiliated with

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

since 1952. The FAS oversees the organisation and development of football and advancing the game at all levels in Singapore, and is responsible for all aspects of the amateur and professional game in its territory. This includes its flagship domestic league, the

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which r ...

(SPL), as well as the men's,

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

and

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...

national football teams. The FAS is headquartered at the Jalan Besar Stadium, located at Kallang. The FAS also manages the organisation and running of league and cup competitions, the stewardship of international teams, the establishment of youth development, women's football, refereeing and coaching frameworks.

History

The association was also previously known as the Singapore Amateur Football Association (

abbreviation An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

: SAFA) on 14 May 1929 before adopting its current name on 13 January 1966.

Singapore national team

The Singapore national football team, administered by FAS, is one of the most successful sides in ASEAN Football Championship history, winning the regional international tournament four times in 1998, 2004/5, 2007 and 2012. Despite the country having a relatively small population pool, it has generally punched above its weight by successively producing squads that has fiercely competed with its larger and much more populated neighbours. Singapore has also achieved notable results beyond their sub-confederation. In the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Singapore became the only team to beat

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

where Iraq were en route to their Asian Cup winning campaign. Singapore also drew with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

0–0 and 1–1 at home in 2006 and 2009 respectively. In March 2008,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

also failed to beat Singapore when the game ended in a goalless draw. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

was held to a draw at home at the Saitama Stadium by Singapore, being the only game where Japan had dropped points in the group.

Youth Development Programmes

The FAS focuses on football development and operates national age group programmes with U-15, U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-23 teams (known as Young Lions, who compete in the country's professional

). All

clubs have also fully implemented their own programmes for the Under-14s, adding on to the existing U-16s and U-18s program.

Former presidents

* Soh Ghee Soon: 1957–1963 * Hussein Kumari: 1963–1965 * Abu Bakar Pawanchee: 1965–1967 * Tay Soo Yong: 1967–1968 * Woon Wah Siang: 1968 * Lenny Rodrigo: 1968–1971 * NSPB / SSC: 1971–1974The FAS was under the management of the National Sports Promotion Board and later, the Singapore Sports Council. * R.B.I. Pates: 1974–1976 * N. Ganesan: 1976–1982 * Teo Chong Tee: 1982–1988 * Abbas Abu Amin: 1988–1991 * Hsu Tse-Kwang: 1991–1994 * Ibrahim Othman: 1994–1999 *

Mah Bow Tan Mah Bow Tan ( zh, s=马宝山, p=Mǎ Bǎoshān; born 12 September 1948) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Leader of the House between 2007 and 2011, Minister for National Development between 1999 and 2011, Minister for the Envir ...

: 1999–2004 * Ho Peng Kee: 2004–2009 * Zainudin Nordin: 2009–2016 * Lim Kia Tong: 2017–2022 * Bernard Tan: 2022-present(Interim)

Council members

FAS Tournaments

* FAS National Football League (2 Divisions) * FAS Island Wide League * FAS Women's Premier League * FAS Women's National League

FAS Affiliates 2017

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which r ...
Clubs

* Albirex Niigata (S) *

Balestier Khalsa Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League. Founded in 1898, the club is considered as the oldest football club in the country. History Tracing their origins all ...

* Geylang International *

Home United Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as The Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club competing in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Since the 2021 season, the ...

* Hougang United * Tampines Rovers * Warriors FC * Gombak United (sit-out club) *

Tanjong Pagar United Tanjong Pagar United Football Club is a professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club took part in S.League from 1996 to 2004, and from 2011 to 2014. The club with ...

(sit-out club)

FAS National Football League Clubs

* Academy Junior Football * Admiralty CSC * Admiralty FC * Balestier United RC * Bishan Barx * Eunos Crescent * GFA Sporting Westlake * GFA Victoria * Gymkhana FC * Jungfrau Punggol * Kaki Bukit SC * Katong FC * Kembangan United * Police Sports Association * SAFSA * Siglap FC * Singapore Cricket Club * Singapore Khalsa Association * South Avenue SC * Starlight Soccerities * Tiong Bahru FC * Yishun Sentek Mariners * Warwick Knights FC

Singapore M-League/M-Cup Team (The Lions)

Former national players

Notable Former National Players – Singapore National Football Team * Eric Paine (1968–1978) * Fandi Ahmad (1978–1982, 1993–1999) * Au-Yeong Pak Kuan (1979-1985, 1988–1989) * Kadir Yahya (1993–1999) * Lim Tong Hai (1992–1994) * David Lee (1978–1994) *

Zulkarnaen Zainal Zulkarnaen bin Zainal (born 1 October 1973) is a retired Singaporean footballer. He played as a left-back or left midfielder. He was a member of the Singapore national football team that won the 1998 Tiger Cup. He also played in their 0–2 loss ...

(1994) * Mohd Rafi Ali (1993–94) *

Nazri Nasir Nazri Nasir (born 17 January 1971) is a Singaporean professional football manager and former footballer. He was the captain of the Singapore national team from 1997 to 2003, and led the team to the 1998 AFF Championship title. He was a defen ...

(1988–1994) * Malek Awab (1980–1987, 1993–1994) *

K. Kannan Kuniuraman Kannan (sometimes spelt Kunjuraman Kannan), more popularly known as K. Kannan, is a Singaporean association football, football Forward (association football), forward who played for Singapore national football team, Singapore. He w ...

(1980–1988, 1992) * Razali Saad (1988–1994) * Jefri Rahmat (1988–1994) * D. Tokijan (1985–1991) *

Borhan Abu Samah Borhan Abu Samah (30 November 1964 – 29 October 1999) was a Singaporean footballer who played for the Singapore national team in the 1990s. He was a left-back best known for his hard-tackling and "bulldog" style of play, earning himself the ...

(1985–1991, 1993–1994) * Syed Faruk (1988–1994) *

Steven Tan Steven Tan Teng Chuan (born 28 December 1970) is a Singaporean former footballer who played for the Singapore national team during the 1990s as a striker. He was best known for coming off the bench as a substitute and scoring the all-importa ...

(1993–1994) *

Lee Man Hon Lee Man Hon is a former football player from Singapore. He was one of the top midfield players in Singapore in the 1990s and played at international level for the Singapore national team from 1989 to 1997. He also played for the Singapore team ...

(1994) * V Selvaraj (1994) * Terry Pathmanathan (1978–1992) *Abdul Malek (1980–1993) *

Hasnim Haron Hasnim bin Haron (born 21 December 1966) is a Singaporean former footballer who last played as a midfielder for Balestier Khalsa. Career During his career, Haron played for Singaporean sides and Malaysian side JDT and was regarded as one of t ...

* Zulkifli Kartoyoho *Azhar Yusope * Quah Brothers * Dollah Kassim * V. Sundramoorthy *

Aide Iskandar Aide Iskandar bin Sahak (born 28 May 1975) is a former professional footballer. He was a member of the Singapore national team which won the ASEAN Football Championship in 1998, 2004 and 2007, captaining the team in the latter two editions. ...

* Yahya Madon (1984–1994)

Corporate structure

The FAS council was first appointed by the government in 1968, and has been controlled continually by government appointees for more than three decades from the 1980s to 2015. From 2004 to 2015, its president had been an elected member of the ruling People's Action Party, and was appointed by the Minister for Sports. In 2015,

requested an end to political appointments of the national body's council members. FAS therefore changed its constitution in 2016 and held general elections for its council members starting from 2017. In response, the FAS also stated that "We have always been in consultation with FIFA over the last 30 years. They are aware of the uniqueness of our situation, and have always given us special dispensation."

Investments

During the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in September 2016, it was revealed that organising expenses on grassroots competitions like the National Football League (NFL), Island Wide League (IWL) and FA Cup amounted to about $70,000 during the previous financial year from April 2015 to March 2016. This figure which represented a mere 0.2 per cent of the FAS' total annual budget of S$35.8 million sparked disapproval within the local football community with many perceiving it as FAS's lack of regard for grassroots football. In a press conference on 13 October 2016, FAS vice-president Bernard Tan clarified that the amount did not include prize money and participation fees contributed by the teams counted under the domestic league account.

Funding

In early April 2017, Bill Ng, chairman of SPL club Hougang United and NFL club Tiong Bahru Football Club (TBFC), claimed that he had donated S$850,000 to the FAS with the intention of helping Singapore football, but that the money had gone to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) instead. The allegations came in the prelude to the first open election of the FAS council. FAS secretary Winston Lee responded that Ng was aware of where the funds were used, that $200,000 went to the former LionsXII, while $500,000 was used to support the AFF's Football Management System. Lee said that it was former FAS president Zainudin Nordin who asked Ng to donate to the AFF, while Ng disputed the claim. FAS responded with a statement that Ng's allegations of financial impropriety within FAS to damage the credibility of the association was regrettable, and it was unusual that Ng had chosen to hide Zainudin's role in the transaction. On 20 April 2017, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) raided the FAS headquarters over alleged financial misuse of funds filed by Sport Singapore (formerly known as the Singapore Sports Council). Zainudin Nordin, Winston Lee, Bill Ng and his wife Bonnie Wong, were all arrested before being subsequently released on bail. The four assisted with the

Commercial Affairs Department The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) is a staff department of the Singapore Police Force (SPF). The department was first established in 1984 as the Commercial Crime Department (CCD), it is the white-collar crimes unit of the SPF. History The d ...

(CAD) with the probe into the alleged misuse of funds and obstruction of club audits of TBFC. In September 2021, the CAD in accordance with the Attorney-General announced that they had concluded their investigations and that the individuals involved will not face charges.

Notes

References

External links

*
Singapore
at AFC site

at FIFA website {{Sports governing bodies in Singapore

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Football in Singapore 1892 establishments in Singapore 1952 establishments in Singapore Sports governing bodies in Singapore Sports organizations established in 1892