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Merlion Cup seeks new venue

SINGAPORE — After six months of negotiations, organisers of the Merlion Cup have decided not to host the tournament at the National Stadium in a move that will disappoint many football fans hoping to catch the action “live” in the 55,000-seat facility next month.

Liverpool's Yossi Benayoun taking on Singapore's Daniel Bennett during the 2009 Merlion Cup. The invitational tournament was discontinued after that year's edition. TODAY file photo

Liverpool's Yossi Benayoun taking on Singapore's Daniel Bennett during the 2009 Merlion Cup. The invitational tournament was discontinued after that year's edition. TODAY file photo

SINGAPORE — After six months of negotiations, organisers of the Merlion Cup have decided not to host the tournament at the National Stadium in a move that will disappoint many football fans hoping to catch the action “live” in the 55,000-seat facility next month.

Media rights company MP & Silva revealed yesterday that they were unable to finalise an agreement with the Singapore Sports Hub, leaving them with no choice but to seek alternative venues for the four-team invitational tournament. The line-up was expected to comprise the Singapore national team, Myanmar’s national side, Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua and J-League side Yokohama F Marinos.

Responding to queries from TODAY, a MP & Silva spokesperson said: “Negotiations with the Singapore Sports Hub have been going on for the last six months. We had done our best to finalise an agreement as early as possible to give the event the best opportunity to be a success.

“Unfortunately, negotiations with the Sports Hub have been increasingly challenging.

“At this stage, MP & Silva have explored and exhausted all options to negotiate with the Sports Hub to hold the event at the National Stadium.

“Ultimately, MP & Silva has the fans and Singapore football at heart, and we’re still committed to organise the event. We have therefore started exploring other venue options. Further details will be announced at an opportune time.”

Last month, TODAY reported that talks between both parties had hit an impasse after the Sports Hub demanded an upfront payment — believed to be a six-figure sum — for the rental of the venue for the 2016 and 2017 event.

While that was eventually resolved, TODAY understands that MP & Silva could not agree on a force majeure clause in the contract despite concessions made by the Sports Hub.

With the National Stadium ruled out as a host venue, the Merlion Cup could now be held at the smaller-capacity Jalan Besar Stadium, or even across the Causeway in Malaysia. However, the use of Jalan Besar — and its artificial turf — could see some teams deciding to opt out of the tournament.

The Merlion Cup is not the first event to reconsider the hosting of its event at the National Stadium.

Just last week, Singapore Athletics revealed that they were considering an alternative venue for the Asia Masters Athletics Championship as the national sports association were unable to pay for the conversion of the stadium — estimated to cost some S$330,000 — from “football mode” to “athletics mode”.

In a statement last night, the Sports Hub said it is “surprised and disappointed by this sudden turn of events”. “We have been working very closely with the MP &S ilva team over the staging of the Merlion Cup at the Singapore Sports Hub and have been looking forward to the event which was scheduled to be held in January 2016,” said Jose Raymond, Sports Hub’s Senior Director (Corporate Communications and Stakeholder Management).

“Apart from extending preferable terms and conditions for hiring the National Stadium, we also met MP & Silva’s various requirements during negotiations.

“We do hope that MP & Silva considers organising the Merlion Cup or any other football event at the National Stadium in the near future, for the benefit of football fans in Singapore.”

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