S$9.7m budget not enough for S’pore football to compete regionally, says FAS boss

The state of Singapore football has come under the microscope after a string of poor results posted by the Lions and under-23 SEA Games squad. In a wide-ranging interview with TODAY, Football Association of Singapore general secretary Winston Lee and technical director Michel Sablon were candid on what ails local football, but offer hope for its future. They say that although there are obstacles in the way, a new blueprint has been created that can lift the sport out of its current slump. There is light at the end of the tunnel but all stakeholders in the sport must get on board to make it work. This is what Mr Winston Lee has to say on the following issues:

POOR PERFORMANCE OF NATIONAL TEAMS:

It is a fact that we have not done well on the field in recent times, from National U-21 level to the senior National ‘A’ team. The results speak for themselves. The SEA Games exit was disappointing for all of us.

We are currently conducting a thorough review to pinpoint the areas we came up short in, so as to ensure that we do better moving forward.

The main thing we are trying to do now is to rebuild our national teams. Our Lions are a young side - most of the players, save for a few seniors, are below the age of 25. That has been (national coach) Bernd Stange’s mandate since he came on board in 2013 – to gradually replace the players who are in their 30s, introduce new, younger talents into the team as well as a new style of play. And the rebuilding process is bound to be a slow one. As such, we are bound to experience poor results along the way.

YOUTH AND FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT:

When we came up with the Strategic Plan in 2010, we calculated that we needed at least $19 million a year, up from the $9.7 million that we used to get, to fulfil our targets. When we realised that the required financial resources were not forthcoming, we decided to prioritise our needs versus our desires – and so we made youth development our top priority.

This is why we have done the following things over the past five years:

· Came up with a National Football Syllabus, which is formulated on the best practices around the world, and on building a comprehensive youth development structure – JCOE (Junior Centre of Excellence) + COE (Centre of Excellence) + NFA (National Football Academy) – and we did it with advice from international experts including FIFA.

· We now have a pipeline from U-6 all the way through to the NFA and then to the Under-23s, and all of them are following the National Football Syllabus to ensure they are all taught the fundamental skills, and are drilled in the same way of playing.

· We set up our the JCOEs and the NFAs to further strengthen our Youth Development Programme because several S.League clubs did not have the resources to do so

· At the grassroots level, we have been trying to increase the number of kids playing the game, and get more schools to field teams for national schools competitions. Since 2010, we have increased the number of school teams for primary and secondary schools from 256 to 360.

Many people, including FIFA Technical Director Jean-Michel Benezet in 2011 have told us to be patient. They say that we have done the right thing in investing in youth development as it takes time to develop good players and strong teams.

The current results of our senior teams may not have been good, but one proof that our Youth Development Programme is bearing fruit can be seen in our NFA teams’ results and performances against top European and South American sides in the past three editions of the Lion City Cup (2011-2013).

Over the past few years, several of our NFA players have also been selected for overseas training stints and attachments with clubs such as FC Metz, Ajax Amsterdam, Eintracht Frankfurt, Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers.

However, the fact remains that the budget that we work with annually is not enough for us to compete at the Asian level.

Although the $9.7 million we get annually makes us one of the highest-funded Singapore NSAs (National Sports Association), it unfortunately cannot compare to what our neighbours are getting For example: Indonesia gets $112 million annually; Vietnam $60 million; Thailand $52 million; and Malaysia $35 million.

When you compare it to the Asian powerhouses, the disparity is much wider – Japan gets $264 million a year, South Korea gets $95 million and China $180 million.

The performance of our NFA teams reflects this. While our age-group sides have performance well in local-based international tournaments like the Lion City Cup, they have not reached the level where they can match the top Asian teams consistently.

One reason is because we have not been able to send them on as many overseas training stints as we would like. A typical two-week overseas stint for 20 players and eight officials would cost $240,000, and this is what top Asian countries like Japan are doing.

Top European coaches and technical directors also tell us that we have talented players but that they need constant top-level exposure overseas. So we will continue to try to find ways to send our top talented youth players overseas using our Football Development Fund, and our networks and connections with stakeholders, partners and overseas leagues. Our aim is to try to give as many opportunities to those players who have the talent to really make it to the top.

Meanwhile, our new Technical Director’s main task is to further improve and revamp our Youth Development System if necessary, and he will be looking to bring in a Coach Instructor, and a National Youth Head Coach. My mandate to him is not just to renovate the youth development system. Michel (Sablon) has been told that he can tear down the entire structure and rebuild from scratch if necessary.

In the second phase of our grassroots strategy, we are trying to expand the playing base with our Cubs Grassroots Football Programme, which is headed by FAS (Football Association of Singapore) Vice-President Bernard Tan. Right now we have too few kids playing soccer. Only 6.9% of boys between the ages of 7-12 actually play football. If we include girls, the percentage is extremely small.

Almost 40-50 percent of Singaporean kids, from 100 primary schools that we surveyed last year, when asked, declare they want to play soccer but only a small proportion are given the opportunity by becoming school players. In most countries, more than 20 percent of kids play soccer.

We also need our kids to play often and in a structured way. In Europe, the recommended period is 4.5 hours a week for 40 weeks. Today, there is no structure that even allows this. Primary school soccer tournaments, at best, last from one to three months.

So there is the need to look into this. We are trying to bring the game to non-football playing schools and get more boys and girls learning to play the game properly. This is why FAS Vice President Bernard Tan is overseeing the Cubs Grassroots Football Programme. We now have three centres – Sembawang Primary, Queensway Secondary (which is an all-girls centre) and Serangoon Stadium in partnership with Active SG. We are planning to open a few more centres by the end of the year.

COE PROGRAMME:

In our effort to ensure better quality for club youth development, we have reduced the number of clubs running COE programmes to three (Warriors FC, Home United and Balestier Khalsa) because many of the clubs lacked the financial and physical resources, facilities and staff to run a COE. These include having pitches, a team of coaches, including the head coach, fitness and goalkeeper coaches, and admin staff.

Although there are now just three clubs running COEs, they have increased the number of age-group teams in their COEs from 3 (U-14, U-16 and U-18) to 6 (U-13 to U-18).

But clubs can apply to come back to the COE system when they have the capacity to do so. Right now, some clubs are taking the step-by-step approach – for example, Hougang United has an Under-18 squad.

We would like to expand the number of COEs and in our next Strategic Plan, one of our aims is to help clubs get back their COEs with better resources.

EXISTENCE OF YOUNG LIONS IN S.LEAGUE:

Some people may think that the Young Lions have taken away the best young talents in Singapore, but the thinking behind forming the club was twofold.

We wanted to try to provide adequate playing opportunities for players who are doing National Service. We also have an understanding with the authorities that these players can be released to play for us when they don’t have national service commitments.

The other reason is that the risk of an Under-23 player not being able to break into the first team of clubs is high. The chances are that they might find themselves on the bench at clubs. That would mean a lack of playing opportunities for them. For example, before the Young Lions were formed, how many clubs were fielding U-23 players?

We also felt that having all the best Under-23 players playing together is the best way to prepare for the SEA Games. After all, several S.League clubs do invest a lot of money in their teams because they want to win titles, and we respect that. They may not want to be forced to field a fixed number of U-23 players in their first 11 all the time.

But that does not mean we are not relooking the Young Lions as part of our S.League Strategic Review. We are objective-centric - one of our aims is to get our Under-23 players as much playing time as possible.

Some people may say that the results of recent SEA Games are signs that the Young Lions concept does not work. But then again, would we have performed better if we did not have the Young Lions?

REASON FOR EXISTENCE OF LIONSXII:

Likewise, the LionsXII is essentially a developmental squad. Most of its players are aged 24 and under, with a few senior players. The aim is to give them regular playing opportunities in a tough environment that lasts for almost a year.

While there are some people who think that our participation in the Malaysian Super League (MSL) is a step backwards for Singapore football, it has reaped significant benefits for the local football industry.

Since 2012, our participation in the MSL has helped to generate more media coverage of local football than what we could do with the S.League. In fact, the coverage is more than that any individual EPL (English Premier League) club.

This, in turn, has led to more interest in local football. Our home matches draw crowds of between 5,000 to full-house capacities of 7,000. According to our research, the weekly ‘live’ matches also reach up to 600,000 households through TV, mobile phones and the internet.

The LionsXII even took part in 2013 National Day Parade after winning the MSL title that year. Similarly, this year’s FA Cup win has further boosted the popularity of players and the team, with almost 2,000 fans turning up at Changi Airport to welcome the team on its return, along with Ministers Lawrence Wong and Tan Chuan Jin.

Our participation in the MSL has also provided lucrative career opportunities for players and coaches (ie Hariss Harun, Shahril Ishak, Baihakki Khazian and even coach V. Sundramoorthy). It has also helped us to secure new sponsors who have never been involved in local football previously (ie StarHub, Silkpro, Kingsmen, Epson, Silkair, Stamford Tyres etc)

Having said that, our MOU with the Football Association of Malaysia ends this season, and we are open to all possibilities moving forward. This is because everything that we have done, or experimented with, has been with the aim of trying to improve Singapore football.

We are currently conducting a Strategic Review of the S.League and FAS, and we are open to any ideas or suggestions that can improve both the league and the standard of Singapore football.

NATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE:

We have been working closely with Sport SG, the URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) and other stakeholders to secure land for the building of a National Training Centre (NTC), and our efforts are finally bearing fruit. Sport SG recently published a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the NTC.

The NTC will be crucial to our developmental plans as it will give our national age-group teams a permanent place to train. Our regional neighbours are all aware of the importance of having an NTC. Even Timor Leste, Cambodia and Laos have their own NTCs.

Having our own NTC will also encourage more top teams and countries from Asia, Europe and South America to consider Singapore as a venue for short overseas training stints. The FAS, our coaches and national teams will in turn benefit from this as we can generate revenue from these stints, organize sparring matches for our national teams, and coaching workshops for our coaches and technical staff.

Meanwhile, in the absence of an NTC, Sport SG has helped us by refurbishing Geylang Training Pitch, and is helping us to ensure regular field maintenance at some of our training venues so that our teams will have good pitches to work on. And thanks to Sport SG’s support, we will have five football-specific stadiums for the S.League in the coming years: Jalan Besar, Bishan Serangoon, Yishun and Jurong West.

WHAT ELSE HAS TAKEN OFF IN FAS 5-YEAR PLAN?

We have managed to achieve key goals especially in the areas we chose to focus on, such as youth development. Some of the pieces are now in place. In terms of NSA management, we have also been consistently ranked by Sport SG as one of the top three performing NSAs in Singapore. I think that does say we have done well as an organization.

a. Sports Marketing, Raising Funds through Sponsorship.

We recently announced a partnership with MP & Silva. It is a very important one as it will provide not just the resources - $24 million over six years - but also the connections and networks that will help us to implement our programmes.

MP & Silva will be able to help source for good international opponents for friendlies and quadrangular tournaments. The partnership also has the potential to open doors for us and our players to the Belgian, Polish and Scottish leagues.

b. Looking for other partnerships to benefit Singapore football

Likewise, our partnerships with the Japan Football Association, the French Football Federation and the J.League will also help us in our efforts to secure playing and training opportunities for our best and brightest talents. Our friendly matches against the French U-21 team in Reunion Island last year, and against the Japan U-22 side this year are examples of this.

c. Football Science and Medicine

Over the years, we have also been trying to boost our capabilities in Football Science and Medicine (FSAM). We’ve gone out to look for medical professionals to join our FSAM committee to tap on their expertise and experience. We have also embarked on several key initiatives in the past few years to enhance the physical and psychological well-being of our players, and also come up with injury prevention and management programmes to cut down on the recurrence of major injuries to our players. We have also provided GPS system for our players’ training.

d. Organising football events

Over the years, we’ve also been trying to organise more and better quality events for our players. For example, we’ve turned the Lion City Cup from a regional U-16 tournament into an international one featuring top European and South American age-group sides. We also came up with the NexLions tournament for U-19 teams, and now with MP & Silva’s help and opening of Sports Hub, we should be able to organise an annual Quadrangular for our Lions, as well as international friendlies against stronger countries.

I believe that if you do not solve the causes, you will forever be dealing with the symptoms. We were very genuine in wanting to go all out and do well for Singapore football. Going forward, our next Strategic Plan needs to be communicated better – that the goals are achievable with the right amount of funding. If the required funding is not possible like this current Strategic Plan, then we should be realistic, and indicate what can be achieved with that level of funding.

DOES THE MANAGEMENT OF FAS AND FOOTBALL NEED A REVIEW?

On the whole, I feel we have done as best as we could have with the level of resources that we’ve had at our disposal and of course we can do more with the right support.

In coming out with our first Strategic Plan, we chose to stretch ourselves. Some of our goals were ambitious, and perhaps some people would say, not realistic, and some were achievable. But I like to set challenging goals for myself and my staff that can stretch us, and benefit all who are working here.

We’ve tried to stretch our resources as much and as creatively as possible. It’s like we had $1 previously, which took us from Point A to Point B. We came up with a plan that would take us to Point E but which would cost us $3. But we didn’t get $3. We got $1.10 instead, but we’ve used it as best as we could to get to Point C.

Perhaps, where we have not done well is in communicating and being open about the challenges that we have faced and that these have prevented us from being able to achieve a number of our targets. We should have been more open.