SINGAPORE: Singapore men’s under-22 football team will not participate in the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said on Tuesday (Jul 11).
This decision comes after a review of the team’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games performance and scheduling conflicts, said FAS.
Last Friday, the association unveiled 10 recommendations to improve the country’s performance at future SEA Games, after the team was knocked out of the group stages for the fifth straight time.
The Young Lions also suffered a 7-0 mauling by Malaysia in their final group game in May, making it Singapore’s heaviest defeat at the SEA Games since it became an age-group affair in 2001.
The decision not to take part in the upcoming Asian Games is in line with one of the recommendations from the review, said FAS.
The under-22 team will focus on the SEA Games and the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) under-23 Asian Cup qualifying tournament.
FAS said the Asian Games falls outside the FIFA window and takes place in the same month as the 2024 AFC under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers.
Sport Singapore supports the decision and the Singapore National Olympic Council has no objections to the team not taking part in the Asian Games, said FAS.
The last time the Yong Lions took part in the Asian Games was in 2014. They did not meet the benchmark for the 2018 Asian Games.
Mr Bernard Tan, acting president of the FAS, said: “The past few weeks, the FAS has gone through a period of introspection, and we are right now in the midst of implementing the recommendations from the recent SEA Games review.”
FAS general secretary Yazeen Buhari said the association considered the preparation time required to get the team ready for each tournament, and took into account the players’ commitments to their clubs, schools and National Service.
“Given that the Asian Games comes off the back of the AFC under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers, this makes participation particularly challenging,” he added.
Singapore women’s team will continue to participate in the Asian Games, which was postponed from September 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.