S-League set for scrutiny

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AFC want more clubs in Champions League, but FAS will not budge on foreign teams issue

by Shamir Osman

Apr 12, 2011

SINGAPORE - In October last year, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) withdrew their application for direct participation in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) for the 2011 and 2012 season. The move prompted the AFC to cancel their inspection of S-League clubs and facilities. Yesterday, the FAS confirmed AFC assessors will be in Singapore from May 3 to 11 to evaluate the league and clubs.

But in response to MediaCorp queries whether the FAS were hoping S-League clubs would now be able to qualify automatically for the ACL, the national body said: "The FAS have not changed their earlier position about participating in the ACL at the expense of having foreign teams in the S-League. We are prepared to participate in the ACL only if AFC relax their stance on foreign teams in the S-League.

"Nevertheless, AFC have requested for a visit in May and we have accepted their request."

Last October, FAS president Zainudin Nordin wrote to AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam and in the letter, he stated how difficult it was for the FAS to meet the AFC criteria that the top league of a national association should not feature any foreign teams. The FAS duly declined assessment and direct participation in the ACL and the decision meant the winners of the Great Eastern-Yeo's S-League would not gain automatic qualification into the group stages of the continent's premier competition.

Currently, French outfit Etoile FC are the reigning S-League champions and Japanese side Albirex Niigata are the other foreign team in the competition.

The inspection party, or Special Mission Team (SMT), due here will be led by AFC competitions director Tokuaki Suzuki, and they hope to see more countries qualify for the ACL in 2012. They will conduct workshops and assess the state of football in the Republic.

Suzuki was quoted on the AFC website as saying: "We will inspect ... 10 countries and Singapore to see if they can meet the criteria by improving the situations mainly around their leagues, clubs and stadiums.

"The main difference of the inspections between 2010 and 2011 is that we will conduct a workshop in each country to help club and leagues understand each element for building a professional football platform."

In March, the SMT inspected the Thai Premier League (TPL).

They concluded that the TPL clubs had to improve their facilities and youth programmes, or face exclusion from the ACL.

Singapore scored 237 points and were ranked ninth in the 2008 assessment, which concluded that the S-League was one of the top 10 in Asia.

AFC's 63-point checklist in 2008 included requirements like promotion and relegation in the league to be achieved by 2012; an average attendance of 5,000 at matches; and at least four class "A" stadiums each with a minimum capacity of 5,000 - but no prohibition on foreign teams.

MediaCorp understand the AFC assessors will visit all stadiums during their Singapore call, with clubs having to present several document, including financial statements, business plans and their system for counting match attendance.