SINGAPORE: Albirex Niigata( S ), the defending champion of the Singapore Premier League, announced on Wednesday, September 13, that their club’s policy would change from one with primarily Japanese professionals to one involving mostly Singaporean players.
Albirex Niigata, a satellite team from the Japanese first division, joined the SPL in 2004 at the request of the & nbsp, Football Association of Singapore( FAS ), in an effort to increase declining attendance.
Albirex ( S ) stated in a statement made public on its website that the league & nbsp gave it the go-ahead to begin acquiring Singaporean players in 2018.
It just fielded Chinese players before that. & nbsp,
It stated that since then, we have added more regional players and established an academy to foster the growth of young people.
” We have now decided to start playing as a local pub starting in the upcoming time.”
Ilhan Fandi, the basketball legend’s child, was the most prominent Singaporean to play for AIbirex( S ), and he scored 17 targets as the team roared to the 2022 championship. In December of last year, Ilhan was able to secure a move to French second-tier team KMSK Deinze.
Albirex ( S ) added that as a result of the modification, it is now able to compete in Asian Football Confederation( AFC ) and nbsp tournaments.
The team was disqualified to represent Singapore in western competitions like the AFC Cup despite winning the SPL five times in the previous seven seasons because it was a satellite organization.
Going local was” completely different from previous challenges ,” according to Daisuke Korenaga, chairman of Albirex ( S ).
To & nbsp, strengthen the Singapore national team, increase football’s presence in Singapore, and become the top sport that unites communities are the three things we have, he said.
” We’ll keep making contributions to Singapore sport.”
Albirex ( S ) and FAS have been contacted by CNA for comment.