SINGAPORE — First, it was the closure of the Juventus football school here. Then, the Ronaldinho football academy failed to take off. Now, another big-name international football academy in Singapore - the Valencia Football School - has also bitten the dust.

The school, which was brought into Singapore and managed by private operator Sinad Sports, opened to much fanfare in May last year as part of a three-year partnership between S.League club Geylang International and Spanish La Liga side Valencia CF.

Geylang chairman Ben Teng said then that the partnership was the result of the efforts of the club's management committee (MC) members.

In particular, TODAY understands that then-Geylang vice-chairman Jeremy Chan and club committee member Bambang Sugeng Kajairi were key to securing the deal.

Mr Chan and Mr Bambang are also the chairman and executive director of Sinad respectively.

Back then, during the launch, it was announced that top players from the Valencia CF Football School - and those identified via Geylang's community outreach and scouting work - would be selected for Geylang's Centre of Excellence Under-15 and Under-17 squads. "Outstanding" players could also get to go on training attachments with the Spanish club.

As part of the partnership, the school was allowed to use the Bedok Stadium - the home ground of Geylang - to run its Spanish-style football clinics and camps.

Valencia, owned by Singaporean businessman Peter Lim, also brought in Mr Gonzalo Sanz, the technical director of Valencia CF Football Schools in South-east Asia, to helm the school. The Spaniard has also worked with Valencia's academy teams from the Under-11 to U-16 level.

However, the school only managed to complete one full cycle of its programme, consisting of 10 training sessions and three-day courses for boys and girls aged 10 to 16, before it closed.

The programme had attracted just 30 participants. Sanz has since gone on to join Malaysia Super League (MSL) champions Johor Darul Takzim (JDT), to run programmes for their various age-group academies.

A Valencia spokesperson explained to TODAY that they had decided to "terminate the contract ... because the local party did not fulfil their obligations." It is understood that the "local party" refers to Sinad Sports.

While Valencia declined to reveal what these obligations were, TODAY understands that they were financial as well as administrative in nature.

In response to TODAY's queries, Sinad released a statement which read: "We underestimated the resources (required) going into the deal. As such, after discussing with Valencia, both parties agreed to terminate the contract, and the club was also kind enough to waive the licensing fees."

(Sinad Sports' Bambang Sugeng (left) and Jeremy Chan. Photo: Geylang Eagles Twitter Page)

TODAY also understands that Sinad had disagreements with Mr Teng over how the school was being operated. This led to Geylang pulling out of the partnership midway through their programme, which meant the Valencia CF Football School could not use Bedok Stadium for their training sessions any longer.

Both Mr Chan and Mr Bambang also subsequently stepped down from Geylang's management committee.

As a result of Geylang pulling out of the deal, Sinad was forced to find an alternative venue at which the school could conduct its training sessions.

TODAY understands that Sinad faced difficulties in trying to find a permanent location for the school, although it did conduct several sessions at Safra Tampines. The change in location also caused several parents to be unhappy. As such, the weekly number of participants began to drop.

TODAY reached out to Geylang and Mr Teng with queries over the club's involvement, and subsequent withdrawal, from the school.

However, despite asking for a few days to prepare a response, Mr Teng eventually only sent a one-sentence reply by email. "Geylang and Valencia are still close friends," it said. He declined to answer further questions.

Geylang have since teamed up with the ActiveSG Football Academy to provide Bedok Stadium as a venue for their training sessions. Club captain Isa Halim currently leads the academy's programme at the stadium as its head coach. The partnership also sees Geylang's Young Eagles Football academy merging under ActiveSG.

While the Valencia CF Football School here may have come to an abrupt and ignominious end, TODAY understands that the Spanish club remains open to the possibility of setting up another school here in future.