‘Privatisation the way forward’ for S.League

SINGAPORE — As the 21st season of the S.League came to a close earlier this month, questions remain over the viability of Singapore’s only professional league, as it continues to struggle with poor attendance figures, a lack of public interest and limited sponsorships.

But former Singapore international R Sasikumar, who is now the managing director of sports marketing agency Red Card, believes there is a solution to the league’s woes: Privatisation.

S.League clubs are currently registered as societies and largely rely on annual subsidies — which can reach up to S$1 million if they meet certain targets and key performance indicators throughout the season — to run their operations. However, the subsidies are dependent on the amount of funding the league receives from the Tote Board each season.

But should the league be privatised, it will mean each club can adopt different revenue models, with investors being able to monetise the assets of the club.

Sasikumar believes this will lead to a more vibrant S.League, as it will encourage club owners to be more closely involved with the club given that they will now be financially liable to the entity.

The S.League had started in 1996 as a private entity, before merging with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) in 1999.

“This idea of privatisation is the bedrock of football leagues around the world,” said Sasikumar, who is helping the Philippines set up its first professional football league.

“For the longest time, we’ve seen privatisation as a perversion of the game, when it is not. Now you see our league struggling to remain relevant and it’s a real shame, because we should have privatised the S.League a long time ago.

“This would have given investors a chance to buy over our local clubs as they try and make money out of the football industry.

“When that happens, the club owners will be more concerned with how well the club does on and off the pitch. At the moment, there is nothing to drive them to try and strengthen the club, because they know they’ll receive more or less the same subsidies every year regardless of how well they do.”

The decline of the S.League over the years has left Sasikumar frustrated. His exasperation is compounded by the fact he and his team had, at the behest of the FAS, come up with a working proposal to privatise the league. But despite submitting the plans more than 18 months ago, the association has yet to follow up on the idea.

“The FAS started to look at the idea of privatising the S.League and they asked us for help,” revealed the former Home United defender.

“So we spoke to the various stakeholders, conducted our research and came up with a proposal, which we submitted to them about 18 months ago.

“We spent a lot of time and effort on this project — and for free — because we felt it was our duty to help Singapore football. We realised many people bought into the idea (of privatisation) as well.

“But, thereafter, no one escalated the idea. The blueprint is still sitting with the FAS and the idea has seemingly died.” NOAH TAN