The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has announced that the Singapore men’s under-22 football team will not be participating in the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
The revelation comes after a review of the national team’s performance in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, which was notably lacking.
Their recent results and scheduling conflicts were factors the association considered in making the decision.
FAS shared in a press release that the Singapore men’s under-22 football teams will not participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022.
They reached the decision after discussions with Sport Singapore (SportSG) and the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC).
“SportSG supports this decision and SNOC has no objections,” FAS added.
They attributed the decision to the Post SEA Games Football Review published last week.
It was in line with one of its recommendations, which asserted that the under-22 team should focus on two priority tournaments — the SEA Games and the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers.
The decision FAS reached was also due to the team’s recent performances and scheduling conflicts. They noted that the Asian Games fall outside the FIFA window.
Source: Football Association of Singapore on Facebook
In addition, it takes place in the same month as the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers. Bernard Tan, acting FAS president said:
The past few weeks, the FAS has gone through a period of introspection.
“We are right now in the midst of implementing the recommendations from the recent SEA Games review,” he added.
General Secretary of FAS Yazeen Buhari said that based on the review, they have considered the preparation time for each tournament.
Source: Football Association of Singapore on Facebook
Alongside this, they have had to look at players’ commitments to their clubs, schools, and national service as well.
“Asian Games comes off the back of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers,” he said.
This makes participation particularly challenging.
The upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games experienced a delay from September 2022 due to the pandemic. The postponement thus caused it to have a congested fixture list in 2023.
On the other hand, FAS stated that the national women’s team will continue to participate in the Asian Games.
Following the less-than-stellar performance of the national team in the SEA Games, there have been calls for Mr Tan to step down.
Earlier this week, he admitted in an interview with The Straits Times (ST) that he made mistakes as acting president.
Source: Channel NewsAsia on YouTube
“The demands are different. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve learnt, and I can do better,” he said.
Mr Tan also asked for time, acknowledging the post-SEA Games review which outlined 10 findings on the team’s performance during the tournament.
“If I feel that I’ve lost that support, I will step down,” he added. “But as I am in this position, and if I am given an opportunity to carry on, I will focus to drive Singapore football forward with the fraternity.”
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Featured image adapted from Football Association of Singapore.
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