FAS

(April 2015 - March 2016) Annual Report Football Association Of Singapore

ANNUAL

Football Association Of Singapore REPORT 100 Tyrwhitt Road, April 2015 - March 2016 Jalan Besar Stadium Singapore 207542

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109904 FAS AR 2015_Cover_7.5mm.indd 1 9/19/16 2:45 PM 109904 FAS AR 2015_Cover_7.5mm.indd 2 9/19/16 2:45 PM Football Association Of Singapore

ANNUAL REPORT April 2015 - March 2016

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 3

109904 FAS AR 2015_Cover_7.5mm.indd 2 9/19/16 2:45 PM 4 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 5 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Since coming onboard, Sablon has been working closely with his team to identify key gaps in our system as well as practical solutions aimed at overcoming the key challenges and constraints. An enhanced youth development structure for Singapore was unveiled by Sablon in the first half of 2016. The blueprint is broken down into 11 components, which were presented in a 4-3- 3 formation, including an overall development philosophy, coach education, and specialised training and development.

Some of the initiatives have already been rolled out, such as the launch of the Grassroots Coaching Manual which teaches football and life skills in a fun way to children aged six to 13, and the Elite Development Manual which will hone the Dear Members and Affiliates, technical, tactical, mental and physical abilities of youths aged between 14 and 20. Another key On behalf of the Football Association of Singapore programme introduced earlier this year is the (FAS), I am pleased to present to you our Annual Goalkeeper Academy Singapore which aims to Report for the Financial Year (FY) ended 31 March educate and train promising young goalkeepers 2016. aged between 10 and 16 on the modern style of goalkeeping and technique. In FY2015, FAS continued to hire top technical talents to bring Singapore football to the next One of our goals is to revamp the schools level. We kicked off the financial year with the competition structure so as to ensure a balance appointment of Michel Sablon as our Technical in terms of quantity and quality of matches. Director in April 2015. Sablon’s distinguished Alongside the proposed new structure, we have career includes both technical and management also rescheduled some of our youth tournaments positions and as the National Technical Director so as to give our young players more time to train at Royal Belgian Football Federation, Sablon had and develop. designed and introduced a transformative 10-year master plan which revolutionised Belgian football One of the most exciting developments announced and produced a ‘Golden Generation’ of footballers by Michel is the upcoming Singapore Coaching who are now playing in top professional leagues School, which will help nurture Singapore coaches in England, Spain and Germany, among others. and put them through a robust syllabus that Michel Sablon is a world-class addition who will further is helping to develop with the Asian Football strengthen our youth development structure with Confederation (AFC). This school will be directly the aim of creating strong national teams at all overseen by Michel himself, along with Tardy and age-group levels. Mohamed Basir Ellaya Kutty, our Head of Coach Education who was previously the acting Technical We did not stop there, and more top-class technical Director at AFC staff joined FAS, including Guy Martens – renowned as the expert who developed top goalkeepers A key outcome of creating this top-class such as Chelsea FC and Belgium’s Number 1 development environment is to develop generations Thibaut Courtois – as Consulting Goalkeeper of quality footballers for Singapore, but more than Coach, Richard Tardy as Head Coach, National that, Michel has rightly stressed that it is our goal Youth Teams, Patrick Hesse as Head Coach, to produce better players and better persons. Garena Young Lions, Balder Berckmans as Fitness With the full support of our stakeholders, we are Conditioning Coach/Instructor, and Frederic De confident that our blueprint and plans will, in time, Boever as Goalkeeper Coach/Instructor. bring us strong National Teams at all levels.

6 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) As part of our constant efforts to improve our referees or administrators. I am pleased to note young players, our Junior Centre of Excellence that the elite teams have done well in the short (JCOE) programmes were refined. Four JCOE time they have been together, and are growing Advanced Centres and four JCOE Development from strength to strength. Centres were established for the North, South, East and West Zones. Each Centre has 10 players The major competition for the senior Men’s per age group from the Under-10, Under-11, National Team in FY2015 was the joint qualifying Under-12 and Under-13 categories. They now campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 train three times a week (Advanced Centres) and AFC Asian Cup, where we were drawn in Group E twice a week (Development Centres), up from with Afghanistan, Cambodia, Japan and Syria. The once a week previously, with all sessions following Lions started well with a 4-0 win over Cambodia the philosophy of the Elite Development Manual in Phnom Penh, and followed that up with a 0-0 authored by our Technical Director Michel Sablon. draw in front of a capacity 57,000 crowd at Saitama The programme is delivered by coaches under the Stadium against a Japan side filled with the likes close supervision and mentoring of FAS technical of AC Milan’s Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa staff, and will allow the young players to improve of Borussia Dortmund. They eventually finished in their ball mastery and technical skills during this third position, and secured a place in the final round “golden age” of their development. of qualifiers for the 2019 Asian Cup. The draw will be conducted in late 2016, and we are confident International exposure is key to the development of qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup – which will of youth talents and over the past year, we placed be the first time we qualify for the continent’s most several young players on training attachments with the support of our sponsor Epson, Elijah Lim prestigious football competition. Teck Yong, Mohamad Hamizan bin Mohamad Hisham and Muhammad Nur Adam bin Abdullah Our Under-23 National Team participated in the trained with J.League side Matsumoto Yamaga 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games last year, FC in June 2015. Thanks to Singapore Pools and beating the Philippines and Cambodia but losing The New Paper (TNP), Joshua Bernard Pereira, to Myanmar and Indonesia to finish with six points 2015 winner of TNP-Dollah Kassim Award, and in Group A. The team failed to qualify for the Mohamad Hamizan underwent a training stint at semi-final and in line with our standard operating French Ligue 1 team AS Saint-Étienne in March procedure, a thorough post-competition review 2016. Speaking to a local reporter while he was was conducted. The key learning points gleaned in France, Joshua said: “We are not far behind from the review will be applied in our preparations them technically. However, they are definitely far for major competitions in the future. ahead of us physically. They’re really strong and bigger, size-wise. In terms of fitness, they have a One highlight for Singapore football fans during lot of stamina.” Overseas attachment stints and the past 12 months was the Barclays Asia Trophy training tours are key to the development of our that was organised at the National Stadium from players and we will continue to strive to secure the 15-18 July 2015. English Premier League giants required amount of resources and facilitate the Arsenal – who had clinched a record 12th FA Cup development of our top talents. just two months earlier, Everton, Stoke City and a Singapore Selection side competed in the biennial Significant steps have been taken to build on quadrangular tournament that was held for the existing programmes and further increase the first time in Singapore. level of interest in women’s football in Singapore. In addition to the three all-girls centres that were Arsenal, which featured FIFA World Cup 2014 started as part of our FAS Cubs Grassroots winners Per Mertesacker and Mesut Ozil, and programme, an elite women’s Under-16 team was other top-class players including Aaron Ramsey, also set up in 2015. This complements the existing ‘A’, Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscieny, Jack Wilshere Under-19 and Under-14 Women’s National Teams and Petr Cech, won the competition after beating to create a seamless developmental pathway for the Singapore Selection Side and Everton in the female footballers. These measures not only allow semi-final and final respectively. Led by Coach V. more girls and women the opportunity to play Sundram Moorthy, the Singapore Selection team, football, but will also allow the players to become which included several young players such as role models and attract other females to be a part of Shakir Hamzah and Faris Ramli, was praised by Singapore football – whether as players, coaches, the visiting managers.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 7 During the post-match press conference, Arsenal like FIFA, AFC and other Member Associations to coach Arsene Wenger noted that the Singapore develop our skills and abilities. We must, and will, side was “very electrifying” in the first half, and continue to support the less privileged in society, added: “I don’t know what they had for lunch … it through corporate social responsibility events and was difficult to get the ball off them.” fund-raising activities such as the FAS Charity Golf Day and the Singapore Pools-organised Football Stoke manager Mark Hughes, who led his team with a Heart. to a 2-0 win over Sundram’s squad in the third- placing match, said: “They did really well. They had I would like to thank our partners and stakeholders, great energy, great enthusiasm for the game and including fans, Ministries and agencies, sponsors, you could see that they had great ideas tactically. clubs and the media for their continued support They had a definite game plan, but obviously we of the Association. The confidence you have in us are a big, strong Premier League side and maybe makes us strive to do ever more. they lack that little bit of power that the Premier League teams have. That was the key difference, I would also like to express my appreciation to and they can be pleased with their performance in my fellow ExCo and Council members for their both games.” invaluable contributions in so many ways – for giving your advice, guidance and time to helping Premier League Executive Chairman Richard us further raise the standards of local football. Scudamore hailed the reception they received from fans, and described the tournament – which Finally, I wish to thank the staff and management attracted 81,974 fans, a record for the biennial of FAS for their hard work and commitment despite event, as the “best ever Barclays Asia Trophy”. This the various constraints and challenges we face. The is a credit to our staff who had worked hard and upward trajectory of Singapore football depends closely with our partners behind the scenes to on the continued support of our key stakeholders ensure the success of the competition. I am happy and determination of our staff, and I firmly believe that their hard work was recognised by one of the that if we all pull in the same direction, together top leagues in the world. we can all make a positive difference. As Sablon had stressed, we believe that with enough support During the past financial year, we welcomed from all stakeholders, our blueprint will leave a on board new sponsors and partners. A unique lasting legacy for Singapore football. partnership with SMRT Commercial was announced in February 2016, which will see Thank you. S.League clubs being brought closer to over two million passengers across the SMRT transport network through a special concept train, video content on screens, and localised club Yours Sincerely, advertisements at strategic MRT stations. In the same month, the Young Lions also announced a record sponsorship with Garena worth up to S$4 Zainudin Nordin million over two years, the biggest for a club in President, Football Association of Singapore Singapore’s football history. This followed the news in January of Mitre, the world’s oldest manufacturer of footballs, becoming the league’s Official Football and Product Supplier.

We are also thankful to existing sponsors and partners such as Polar Natural Mineral Water, who extended its sponsorship agreement to be the S.League’s official water supplier for five years in February 2016.

FY2015 has been a year for the FAS to take stock and consolidate. We will continue to not only rely on the experience and capabilities of our staff, but also tap upon the expertise of our partners

8 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) CONTENTS

1. Executive Summary 8

2. S.League Sponsors 17

3. Administration 19

4. Standing Committees 22

5. Affiliation/Membership 23

6. Affiliates 24

7. 2015 S.League Review 26

8. Football Excellence 36

9. Grassroots and Community Outreach 52

10. Competitions 54

11. Referees 61

12. Disciplinary Committee 71

13. Medical Committee 74

14. Women’s Football 79

15. Financial Report 83

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Financial Year (FY) 2015 was the final year of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Strategic Plan 2010-2015. Despite a lack of adequate resources, the FAS managed to implement many of the key programmes spelt out in the Strategic Plan, and met many of the targets originally set out.

1.2 Talented people are the cornerstone of any successful organisation, and FAS continued to recruit talented and experienced individuals in FY2015 to help take Singapore football to the next level. The list of high-profile appointments includes Mr Michel Sablon, who was named the Association’s Technical Director in April 2015. Mr Sablon was formerly the National Technical Director at the Royal Belgian Football Federation, where he designed and introduced a transformative 10-year master plan which revolutionised Belgian football and produced a ‘Golden Generation’ of footballers who are now playing in top professional leagues in Europe.

1.3 Following Michel’s appointment, we brought on board key technical personnel including Mr Guy Martens as Consulting Goalkeeper Coach, Mr Richard Tardy as Head Coach, National Youth Teams, Mr Patrick Hesse as Head Coach, Garena Young Lions, Mr Balder Berckmans as Fitness Conditioning Coach/Instructor, and Mr Frederic De Boever as Goalkeeper Coach/ Instructor. Mr Martens is renowned as the goalkeeper coach who developed Chelsea FC’s Thibaut Courtois and many others such as Sinan Bolat, László Köteles and Logan Bailly.

1.4 Since his appointment, Mr Sablon has overseen initiatives such as the launch of the Grassroots Coaching Manual, which targets children aged six to 13 and aims to Imbue good values, enhance character-building and cultivate a habit of a healthy lifestyle in children, while strengthening family and community bonds, as well as the Elite Development Manual, which is aimed at honing the technical, tactical, mental and physical abilities of youth footballers aged 14-20. Having identified goalkeeping as another area for improvement, the Goalkeeper Academy Singapore was launched in 2016 to educate promising young goalkeepers (aged 10-16) in the modern style of goalkeeping.

1.5 In addition, an enhanced youth development structure for Singapore was recently announced, following much work by Mr Sablon and his team. The plans include a revamped school competition structure to give young players more time to train and develop, as well as a Singapore Coaching School that will help nurture Singapore coaches to reach greater heights. These, and other measures laid out in the new structure, will produce not just better players but also better people, and create a top-class development environment to develop generations of quality footballers for Singapore.

1.6 The major competition for the National ‘A’ Team in 2015 was the joint qualifying campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Singapore was drawn with Afghanistan,

10 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) Cambodia, Japan and Syria in Group E. The Lions began the campaign brightly with a EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4-0 win over Cambodia away, and followed that up with a 0-0 draw against a Japan side boasting European-based stars such as Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa in front of 57,000 fans at the Saitama Stadium. They eventually finished in third position to secure a place in the next qualifying round for the AFC Asian Cup.

1.7 The key competition for our Under-23 team in 2015 was the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore, where our team won two matches (against the Philippines and Cambodia) and lost two matches (against Myanmar and Indonesia) in Group A to finish with six points. The team missed out on proceeding to the semi-final stage as second-placed Indonesia had nine points. A thorough post-competition review was conducted in keeping with our standard operating procedure, and the key learning points gleaned from the review will be applied in preparations for future major competitions.

1.8 In February 2016, the Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League announced a new five-year sponsorship agreement with its official water supplier, Polar Natural Mineral Water. This came following the announcement of a unique partnership with SMRT Commercial to promote Singapore’s only professional sports league by bringing S.League clubs closer to over two million passengers across the SMRT transport network. This will be done through an S.League concept train, video contents showing goals and highlights on screens, and localised club advertisements at strategic MRT stations. The previous month had already seen Mitre, the world’s oldest manufacturer of footballs, become the league’s Official Football and Product Supplier.

1.9 The Council, management and staff of the FAS were deeply saddened by the passing of former FAS Chairman, Mr N. Ganesan, on 2 July 2015. Mr Ganesan was deeply passionate about Singapore football, and poured his heart and soul into our sport when he led the FAS from 1974 to 1981. Mr Ganesan was instrumental in shifting Singapore’s Malaysia Cup matches from the Jalan Besar Stadium to the National Stadium in 1974. The visionary move led to 55,000-strong crowds cheering the Lions on, and in turn helped to create the famous Kallang Roar. Singapore also spectacularly reached the play-off final of the 1980 Pre-Olympic Qualifying tournament after scalping giants like China and DPR Korea, unfortunately missing out on qualification after losing to Iran in the final. During his chairmanship, Singapore footballers like Quah Kim Song, S. Rajagopal, Mohammed Noh, Dollah Kassim, Samad Allapitchay, Edmund Wee and a host of others became footballing superstars in our country, well-known by all, and much loved for their memorable performances on the pitch. Mr Ganesan left a deep mark on Singapore football, and we will always be grateful for his immense contributions to our sport.

1.10 Mr Kwek Leng Joo, the former Chairman of the S.League’s Board of Directors, passed away on 16 November 2015. Mr Kwek was part of the team which had in 1995 worked relentlessly to establish Singapore’s first professional league the following year. Mr Kwek played a leading role in establishing a strong foundation for a new professional league, the S.League, which is now in its 21st season. Mr Kwek made invaluable contributions to Singapore in many areas, including football, and he will be greatly missed.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 11 1.11 The Singapore football fraternity also mourned the passing of former National Team coach Hussein Aljunied on 5 March 2016. Mr Hussein was Singapore’s coach from 1984-1986, winning the Malaysia League in 1985 and also leading the Lions to the SEA Games final in the same year.

2. FOOTBALL EXCELLENCE – NATIONAL TEAMS

2.1 Singapore participated in the joint qualifying campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup from June 2015 to March 2016. Drawn with Afghanistan, Cambodia, Japan and Syria in Group E, the National Team performed creditably with a memorable 0-0 away draw against Asian giants Japan and eventually finished third in the group to proceed to the next qualifying round for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

2.2 The 28th SEA Games were held in Singapore, and our Under-23 National Team was grouped with Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines in the football competition. The team beat Cambodia and the Philippines but lost to Indonesia and Myanmar, and consequently did not qualify for the semi-finals.

2.3 The Under-21 National Team, led by Head Coach, National Youth Teams Richard Tardy, participated in the Vietnam Youth Newspaper Cup 2015 which was held in Ho Chi Minh City from 18-30 November 2015. The team drew 2-2 with their Thai counterparts and lost 2-1 to the Vietnam Newspaper U21 team in its other group stage match, before finishing third in the tournament by avenging its earlier loss and beating the same Vietnam Newspaper U21 team 6-5 on penalties in the third place playoff following a 1-1 draw in regulation time.

3. FOOTBALL EXCELLENCE – COACH EDUCATION

3.1 Developing good coaches is essential to any footballing ecosystem, which is why FAS constantly looks to enhance our coaches’ knowledge and capabilities, as well as grow our pool of coaches. To this end, we organise courses and arrange attachments for our coaches. Three AFC Coaching Courses were organised by FAS in FY2015, bringing the total number of AFC-certified local coaches to 810.

3.3 During a nine-day visit to France from 11-19 March 2016 together with two National Football Academy (NFA) players, NFA Under-14 assistant coach Shahrin Shari observed the training sessions of French Ligue 1 team AS Saint-Étienne while chaperoning the players on their training attachment. The opportunity allowed him to learn from his counterparts and expand his horizons.

4. YOUTH DEVELOPMENT – NATIONAL FOOTBALL ACADEMY

4.1 The NFA Under-15 and Under-16 teams participated in the 26th Lion City Cup in August 2015, along with the Under-15 teams from English Premier League clubs Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. The Under-16s had a memorable match against Liverpool, valiantly coming back from 0-3 down to level the scores at 3-3 before losing on penalties.

12 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 5. YOUTH DEVELOPMENT – OVERSEAS ATTACHMENTS

5.1 In line with our focus on youth development, FAS continued to send youth players on overseas stints in FY2015. For instance, three NFA Under-14 players – Muhammad Nur Adam bin Abdullah, Mohamad Hamizan bin Mohamad Hisham and Elijah Lim Teck Yong – were selected to be sent to Japan to train with J.League side Matsumoto Yamaga FC for a week in June 2015. Their trip was sponsored by Epson.

5.2 Mohamad Hamizan was then selected for another overseas training stint in March 2016, this time with French Ligue 1 team AS Saint-Étienne. Joshua Bernard Pereira, 2015 winner of The New Paper-Dollah Kassim Award, also went on the training attachment, which was his reward for winning the Award. Accompanying both players was NFA Under-14 assistant coach Shahrin Shari.

6. FAS JUNIOR CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

6.1 As part of our constant efforts to improve our young players, the Junior Centre of Excellence (JCOE) programmes were refined. In 2016, four JCOE Advanced Centres and four JCOE Development Centres were set up for the North, South, East and West Zones. The JCOE Advanced Centres will have three training days per week per age group on Saturday, Sunday and one weekday. JCOE Development Centres will train twice weekly on Saturday and Sunday. Each Centre will have a projected 10 players per age group from the following categories: U10, U11, U12 and U13.

6.2 As part of continuous improvement to JCOE goalkeeping training, the Goalkeeper Academy Singapore was introduced with a view of improving the standard of goalkeeping among the elite youth players. This specialised training is for players 10 years old and above and they will be trained under the supervision of Goalkeeping Coach Frederic De Boever.

7. WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

7.1 More steps were taken in FY2015 to build on existing programmes and further increase the level of interest in Singapore women’s football. In addition to the three all-girls centres established as part of the FAS Cubs grassroots programme to allow more girls to play the game, four elite women’s teams were set up – National ‘A’, Under-19, Under-16 and Under-14.

7.2 The Women’s National Team played its first full international match in two years in January, against a Sri Lanka team preparing for the South Asian Games. The Lionesses showed plenty of heart and dominated the match but were unable to convert chances in a narrow 1-0 defeat.

7.3 Our Girls’ Under-14 National Team was invited to the JENESYS 2015 Asean Girls U14 Football Exchange Programme in Shizuoka, Japan from 11-18 March 2016. They played four matches and won two, 1-0 against Laos and 3-0 against Malaysia. The team was also invited to the Jockey Club Youth Invitational Tournament Hong Kong 2016 from 7-11 April 2016 and won 3-0 against both Hong Kong and Guam, while losing 0-2 against Thailand.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 13 8. FOOTBALL SCIENCE AND MEDICINE

8.1 During the past year, the Football Science and Medicine (FSAM) Department continued to work with the FAS Medical Committee (MC) to re-implement the Injury Surveillance Programme (ISP) with all S.League clubs. With this ISP in place, we are able to better understand the trend of injuries sustained among our S.League players. Understanding this trend will help the MC to conceptualise new initiatives to help reduce the rate of injuries in the years to come. 8.2 FSAM also introduced the standardised S.League fitness test to all clubs to help clubs and players monitor fitness levels, which in turn helps them to take timely and appropriate action.

9. FOOTBALL REFEREES

9.1 Our FIFA referees and assistant referees are highly regarded and continue to receive appointments for high-profile matches and competitions. For example, FIFA Referee Muhammad Taqi was selected for the FIFA U20 World Cup 2015 in New Zealand and FIFA Women Referee Abirami Naidu was named as one of the officials for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada.

9.2 Our FIFA Referees and Assistant Referees continued to perform well in 2015. Many of them were appointed to officiate in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, FIFA U20 World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup, Women’s Olympic Football tournaments, AFC Champions League, AFC Cup, SEA Games and AFC age group competitions and were also involved in international friendly matches played in Asia.

9.3 In line with our focus on continuous professional development, our match officials also attended seminars and courses in FY2015. FIFA Women Referee Abirami Naidu attended the FIFA Seminar for Referee & Assistant Referee selected for FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. We are also encouraged by the appointments given to our women referees for high-profile matches and competitions. FAS will continue to work with various stakeholders to further develop the capabilities and capacities of our referees.

10. FOOTBALL FACILITIES

10.1 FAS continues to engage our partners in discussions relating to the proposed National Training Centre, which will serve as a platform to fulfil the training requirements of the national senior and age-group teams and also position Singapore as an international training hub.

11. GRASSROOTS AND COMMUNITY FOOTBALL

11.1 As part of our ongoing efforts aimed at expanding the talent pool of youth players, FAS introduced in 2015 the FAS Cubs Grassroots Football Programme. Spearheaded by FAS Vice-President Bernard Tan, the programme aims to reach out to boys and girls aged between six and 12 who wish to play football but who do not have the opportunity to do so, those who do not make it to the school team, and those whose schools do not offer football as a CCA. As of 31 March 2016, there are seven FAS Cubs centres in operation, including three all-girls centres. 14 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 11.2 The FAS Cubs programme follows the FAS Grassroots Manual developed by Technical Director Michel Sablon. The Manual, which emphasises a fun approach to playing football and aims to give children the opportunity to establish unique life skills, pick up the habit of leading a healthy lifestyle and learn positive character-building values such as good discipline, respect, tolerance and teamwork, is also adhered to at programmes run by partners such as People’s Association and ActiveSG.

12. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

12.1 Amongst the many community-driven initiatives, Football with a Heart 2015 – an executive five-a-side football charity fund-raiser event organised by Singapore Pools, the Football Association of Singapore and Sport Singapore – successfully raised S$768,000 to benefit a variety of causes including the President’s Challenge, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, WE CARE Community Services and CARE United, the S.League’s unique charity and community programme.

12.2 The FAS Charity Golf 2015 raised a total of $181,320 and the funds were channelled to the underprivileged young footballers at Care United.

13. FOOTBALL TEAMS’ VISITS TO SINGAPORE

13.1 The Barclays Asia Trophy was organised at the National Stadium from 15-18 July 2015. Arsenal, Everton, Stoke City and a Singapore Selection side competed for the annual friendly tournament, held in Singapore for the first time.

13.2 Arsenal won the competition, beating Everton 3-1 in the final. The Singapore Selection finished in fourth place after losing 0-2 to Stoke City in the 3rd/4th place match. Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore said: “We saw the best of the Premier League in the commitment of Arsenal, Everton and Stoke City. I know they were blown away by the reception that they received from fans and the people of the Lion City. Singapore has helped us put on our best ever Barclays Asia Trophy and given us every reason to seriously consider returning in the near future.”

14. COMMUNICATIONS

14.1 Social Media remains a key fan engagement platform for FAS and S.League. Currently, we have four websites, four Facebook pages, four Twitter and four Instagram accounts separately for our main footballing properties namely, FAS, S.League, LionsXII and Garena Young Lions.

14.2 Our websites and pages continue to attract new fans and visitors during the past financial year. The number of “likes” for the FAS Facebook page stands at 84,375 as at 1 April 2016 – a 28% increase from the figure of 65,828 as at 31 March 2015.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 15 14.3 Moving forward, we are engaging a website developer to integrate all social media platforms to do cross-promotions among fans of our different properties. This will also allow for a greater synergy in engaging fans. The tender was carried out in May 2016.

15. GREAT EASTERN-YEO’S S.LEAGUE 2015

15.1 The 20th season of the S.League, Singapore’s professional football league, was marked in 2015. The milestone coincided with SG50, the 50th Anniversary of Singapore’s Independence as a Republic. In commemoration of the significance of both milestones, a special S.League 20th-year logo was designed and, together with the SG50 logo, was featured prominently in all marketing and publicity forums and channels in 2015.

15.2 There was plenty of excitement and many surprises throughout the season. It remained a tight race to the wire as the 2015 S.League Championship was only decided on the final match day. Brunei DPMM FC clinched their first Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League title after overcoming Balestier Khalsa FC 4-0. The S.League trophy was presented to the club by FAS President Zainudin Nordin for the first time outside Singapore.

16. RHB SINGAPORE CUP AND LEAGUE CUP 2015 RESULTS

16.1 The RHB Singapore Cup Final between Albirex Niigata FC (S) and Home United FC on 27 November 2015 at the Jalan Besar Stadium was attended by 4,617 fans and Guest of Honour, Acting Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng. Albirex beat Home 2-1 in the match.

16.2 This meant that Albirex completed a Cup double, as they had already won the newly- christened The New Paper League Cup in July – also by a 2-1 scoreline, but against Balestier Khalsa.

17. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

17.1 In 2015, the Singapore Recreation Club emerged champions of the National Football League (NFL) Division One, while Singapore Cricket Club clinched the NFL Division Two title. The NFL was then revamped in 2016, becoming a single-division competition with 10 teams. This was done to streamline the competition to sharpen the focus on quality of football, fitness and player development.

18. SINGAPORE POOLS FA CUP

18.1 Home United FC’s Prime League team won the Singapore Pools FA Cup in 2015, beating Police Sports Association 5-1 in the final played on 29 November 2015.

16 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 19. ISLANDWIDE LEAGUE

19.1 The 2015 Islandwide League (IWL) was won by South Avenue SC. Like the NFL, the IWL was also restructured in 2016 and moved away from a pure league format. The IWL is now structured in a group stage (single round-robin league system), followed by a knock-out stage. The two teams in the 2016 IWL Final will be promoted to the National Football League in 2017.

20. CONCLUSION

20.1 FY2015 has been a year of consolidation. Our Technical Director Michel Sablon has been taking stock of the Singapore football landscape, and recently made an announcement to unveil the enhanced youth development structure for Singapore, which aims to develop a world-class player developmental environment. Some of the initiatives have already begun, like the Goalkeeper Academy Singapore and the implementation of the Elite Development Manual for our elite youth players.

20.2 On behalf of the FAS, I would like to extend our utmost gratitude to all our FAS ExCo and Council members, staff, volunteers, clubs, members, fans, sponsors, partners, members of the media and all other stakeholders and partners for their staunch support and commitment towards our goals.

20.3 We will continue to work hard and closely with our stakeholders as we strive to achieve more footballing success, both on and off the pitch, in key areas of concern for the FAS. In addition, we will continue to make improvements in the areas we are lacking, and further raise our standards in all aspects.

Thank you.

Winston Lee General Secretary Football Association of Singapore

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 17 18 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 2016 S.League Sponsors & Partners

Co-Title Sponsors: GREAT EASTERN and YEO’S Singapore Cup Title Sponsor: RHB Bank Berhad League Cup Title Sponsor: The New Paper

Sponsors and Partners: Singapore Pools, MITRE, POLAR Mineral Water, FBT, SMRT Media, NCPG

2016 S.League Clubs’ Main Apparel and Other Sponsors

Albirex Niigata FC (S) Club Main Sponsor: Canon Singapore Club Apparel Sponsor: Hummel Club Sponsors: GOEN, Tap Trip, Langrich Holdings, TDK-Lambda Singapore, COMM, Mitsubishi Corporation, Kikkoman Trading Asia, Optique Paris Miki, Daiho Project Service, WINN, SOODE Optik Pte Ltd, KIRIN Holdings Singapore, Hair Make CLEO, Nihon Assist Singapore, Ramen Sanpotei, Proteca by ACE, JTB, FM96.3 SMILE WAVE, Premium Water by Singapore FLC, DENKA Chemicals Holding ASIA Pacific, TOTO Asia Oceania, JAPASE, NIHON ASIA, ACCEA Singapore, Yakult Singapore

Balestier Khalsa FC Club Main Sponsor: CIVIC AMBULANCE Club Apparel Sponsor: UMBRO

Brunei DPMM FC Club Apparel Sponsor: LOTTO Club Sponsors: MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, MAJU MOTORS SDN BHD , BRUNEI SHELL MARKETING, DST, ROYAL BRUNEI AIRLINES, HERTZ, YOUC1000, NAZMI TEXTILE MALL, Baiduri Bank

Garena Young Lions MAIN SPONSOR: GARENA APPAREL SPONSOR: Nike PARTNERS: Singapore Pools, Sport Singapore

Geylang International FC Club Main Sponsor: EPSON Club Apparel Sponsor: Thorb

Home United FC Club Main Sponsor: LINCO INVESTMENTS Club Apparel Sponsor: PUMA SPORTS SINGAPORE PTE LTD. Club Sponsors: Cita Rasa Kitchen Pte Ltd, Churos Factory

Hougang United FC Club Main Sponsor: ESW Club Apparel Sponsor: Vonda

Warriors FC Club Apparel Sponsor: JOMA

Tampines Rovers FC CLUB MAIN SPONSOR: HYUNDAI CLUB APPAREL SPONSOR: Decathlon - KIPSTA CLUB SPONSORS: Duane Morris & Selvam LLP, Leica, NOGLE, Supercars, Red Card, iAPPS

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 19

ADMINISTRATION

FAS COUNCIL MEMBERS Mah Bow Tan : Advisor A/P Ho Peng Kee : Advisor Zainudin Nordin : President Tan Soo Nan : Vice President Lim Kia Tong : Vice President Bernard Tan : Vice President Edwin Tong : Vice President Sarjit Singh : Honorary Treasurer Winston Lee : General Secretary (co-opted) Lim Chin : CEO, S.League (co-opted)

MEMBERS Bennett Neo Gim Siong Chow Phee Chat Dr Dinesh Nair Edward Liu Han Fook Kwang Kelvin Teo Ban Seng Lim Eng Lee Lim Tong Hai Michael Foo Say Peng Michael Kuah Kim Huat Ng Mui Kim Razali Bin Mohd Saad S.Thavaneson Tan Chong Huat Tan Seng Hua Zulkifli Baharudin

GENERAL SECRETARY’S OFFICE Winston Lee : General Secretary Mary Dianne C. Enriquez : Executive Assistant to General Secretary Jason Lee : Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs and Strategic Development Jean Neo : Assistant Director, Human Resource and Admin. Winnie Tan : Executive, Human Resource and Admin. Gordon Tan : Administrative Assistant

S. LEAGUE (SBU) Lim Chin : Chief Executive Officer, S.League Kok Wai Leong : Director, Operations, S.League Peter Ong : Assistant Director, Operations, S.League Chua Chin Kok : Senior Manager, Admin. & Finance, S.League Glen Paul Magnabijon : Assistant Manager, Marketing, S.League Cuano Marjorie Flores : Executive, Admin. & Finance, S.League Amir Ashraf Rahmat : Executive, Operations, S.League Liang Jimm Lo : Executive, Operations, S.League Berenice Seow : Executive, Marketing, S.League Michelle Ang : Executive, Operations, S.League

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 21 ADMIN & FINANCE DIVISION Murtada Ahmad : Deputy Chief, Admin & Finance Gurmit Singh Grewal : Manager, Finance Maimunah Sulaiman : Assistant Manager, Finance Saraswathy Krishna Murthy : Assistant Manager, Finance Teo Wei Li : Assistant, Finance

I.T. DEPARTMENT Sangeetha Murugesan : Manager, Information Technology Christopher Palapar : Executive, Information Technology

COMPETITIONS DIVISION Adrian Chan : Deputy Director, Competitions Romzi Bin Damiri : Assistant Manager, Competitions Aloysius Emmanuel Vetha : Assistant Manager, Competitions Arriola Ashley John : Executive, Competitions Yusri Bin Umar : Executive, Competitions K. Vickneswaran : Executive, Competitions Mavis Chan : Executive, Competitions

MARKETING DIVISION Alvin Tham : Assistant Director, Corporate Communications Rikram Jit Singh : Assistant Director, Commercial & Business Development Dominic Leong : Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications Sunurriahwati Bte Selamat : Assistant Manager, Marketing Louis Pang : Executive, Marketing

DEVELOPMENT & PLANNING DIVISION Benjamin Tan : Deputy Director, Development & Planning Mohd Asadullah : Manager, Development & Planning Mohd Feizel S/O : Manager, Development & Planning Noor Batcha

NATIONAL TEAMS DEPARTMENT Bernd Stange : Head Coach, National Teams Fandi Bin Ahmad : Senior Staff Coach Lee Bee Seng : Goalkeeper Coach Visakan S/O Subramanian : Assistant Manager, National Teams Melissa Teo : Executive, National Teams Omar Mohamed : Senior Equipment Officer

22 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) TECHNICAL DEPT Michel Sablon : Technical Director Richard Tardy : Head Coach, National Youth Teams Mohd Basir Bin Ellaya Kutty : Head, Coach Education, JCOE, Club Academies & SFA S. Varatha Rajan : General Manager, Youth Development / JCOE Frederic De Boever : Goalkeeper Coach/Instructor Balder Berckmans : Fitness Conditioning Coach/Instructor Patrick Hesse : Coach, Young Lions Selvaraj S/O V. : Coach, National Youth Team Takuya Inoue : Coach, National Youth Team Christophe Chaintreuil : Coach, National Youth Team Mohd Nazri Bin Nasir : Coach, National Youth Team Lydia Lim-Goh : Office Manager Kevin Wong : Senior Executive, National Football Academy Idris Bin Abdul Rashid : Senior Executive, Football Development Mohd Farehan M. Hussein : Executive, National Youth Teams Mohd Nadzri Bin Osman : Executive, National Youth Teams Muhammad Rosman Senin : Executive, Technical

GRASSROOTS, WOMEN’S FOOTBALL AND VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT Julie Teo : General Manager, Grassroots, Women’s Football and Volunteer Management Chen Caiying : Staff Coach

REFEREES DEPT Krishnan Visva Nathan : Head, Referees Lee Seow Poh : Executive, Referees Nazeer Hussain : Executive, Referees Abdul Malik Bin Abdul Bashir : Executive, Referees Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari : Executive, Referees Bin Jahari

FOOTBALL SCIENCE & MEDICINE DEPT Nurhafizah Bte Abu Sujad : Senior Physiotherapist Nasruldin Bin Baharuddin : Sports Trainer Muklis Bin Sawit : Sports Trainer Andrew Tay : Rehabilitation Specialist Matthew David Jones : Strength and Conditioning Trainer Mohd Faizul Bin : Sports Scientist (Part-Time) Abdul Wahid

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 23 STANDING COMMITTEES

FAS Standing Committees (2013-2016)

1. Administration & Finance 3. Business Development 2. Audit Committee Committee Committee

4. Community Outreach & 6. Football Excellence & 5. Competitions Committee Grassroots Committee Development Committee

7. Legal Committee 8. Medical Committee 9. Players’ Status Committee

11. Security & Integrity 12. Women’s Football 10. Referees’ Committee Committee Committee

13. Workplace Safety 14. World Cup U-17 Bid Committee Committee

Judicial Bodies

1. Disciplinary Committee 2. Appeals Committee 3. Ethics Committee

24 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) AFFILIATION / MEMBERSHIP

Ordinary Members - 46

Associate Members - 10

Sanctions Approved (April 2015 – March 2016)

From 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016, a total of 16 tournaments and friendly matches were sanctioned, in addition to the FAS organised competitions. The breakdown are as follows:

11-A-Side Tournaments - 06

9-A-Side Tournaments - 0

7-A-Side Tournaments - 07

6-A-Side Tournaments - 0

5-A-Side Tournaments - 0

4-A-Side Tournaments - 0

3-A-Side Tournaments - 0

Street Soccer - 0

Beach Soccer - 0

Futsal Tournaments - 03

Friendly matches - 0

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 25 AFFILIATES

ORDINARY MEMBERS

S.League Others 1. Albirex Niigata Football Club (Singapore) 32. Academy Junior Football Pte Ltd 2. Balestier Khalsa Football Club 33. Arion Football Academy 3. Geylang International Football Club 34. Gombak United Football Club 4. Home United Football Club 35. Maju United Football Club 5. Hougang United Football Club 36. Middle Rangers Football Club 6. Tampines Rovers Football Club 37. NTUC Club 7. Warriors Football Club 38. Republic Polytechnic 39. St Michael’s Soccer Association National Football League 40. Singapore Government Services Football League 8. Bishan Barx Football Club 41. Singapore Hotel Association 9. Eunos Crescent Football Club 42. Singapore Recreation Club 10. GFA Sporting Westlake Football Club 43. Singapore Xin Hua Sports Club 11. Katong Football Club 44. Singtel Recreation Club 12. Police Sports Association 45. Tanjong Pagar United Football Club 13. Siglap Community Sports Club 46. Winchester Isla Football Club 14. Singapore Cricket Club 15. Starlight Soccerites Football Club 16. Tiong Bahru Football Club ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 17. Yishun Sentek Mariners Football Club. 1. Asia Football Group Pte Ltd Island Wide League 2. ESPZEN Pte Ltd 3. Football Referees’ Association of Singapore 18. Admiralty CSC 4. Jollilads Arsenal Football Club 19. Admiralty Football Club 5. Little League Pte Ltd 20. Balestier United Recreation Club 6. PSA Club 21. GFA Victoria Football Club 7. Singapore Football Coaches Association 22. Gymkhana Football Club 8. Temasek Polytechnic Football Team 23. Jungfrau Punggol Football Club 9. X-League 24. Kaki Bukit Sports Club 10. Young Sikh Association (Singapore) 25. Kembangan United Football Club 26. Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association 27. Singapore Khalsa Association 28. South Avenue Sports Club 29. Tampines Changkat CSC 30. Warwick Knights Football Club 31. Woodlands Wellington Football Club

26 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 27 2015 S.LEAGUE REVIEW

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The 20th season of the S.League, Singapore’s professional football league, was marked in 2015. The milestone coincided with SG50, the 50th Anniversary of Singapore’s Independence as a Republic.

1.2 In commemoration of the significance of both milestones, a special S.League 20th-year logo was designed and, together with the SG50 logo, was featured prominently in all marketing and publicity forums and channels in 2015.

1.3 Competition in all three major trophies at stake, namely the S.League, Singapore Cup and the League Cup, was intense and exciting, with the S.League Championship decided – for the third time in the last four seasons – only on the last day of the competition. Club officials and players put in a lot of effort, both on and off the pitch, to raise the quality and competitiveness of the S.League.

2. GENERAL 2.1 Participating Teams 2.1.1 The 2015 S.League was restructured to comprise ten teams from twelve in 2014. The teams included six local clubs (Balestier Khalsa FC, Geylang International FC, Home United FC, Hougang United FC, Tampines Rovers FC and Warriors FC), Courts Young Lions and three foreign teams (Albirex Niigata FC (S), Brunei DPMM FC and Harimau Muda). Tanjong Pagar United FC and Woodlands Wellington sat out the 2015 S.League season due to financial difficulties.

2.2 Foreign Players 2.2.1 The number of foreign players remained at five per club, the same as the previous season. However, the Marquee Player scheme was discontinued due to funding constraints.

2.3 Competition Format 2.3.1 The S.League competition format reverted to three rounds, on a home and away basis, with each team playing a total of 27 S.League matches in the season. The format for the RHB Singapore Cup and The New Paper League Cup remained unchanged.

2.4 Fitness Test 2.4.1 In our continuing efforts to raise fitness levels, the passing time for the mandatory fitness test (2.4km running test) for S.League players in 2015 was set at 9 minutes 45 seconds (It was 10:00 in 2014). Tests were conducted for all S.League players in January and February. A total of 169 players took the test and a 99.2% pass rate was achieved.

2.5 FAS Club Licensing 2.5.1 In 2015, all six local clubs, namely Balestier Khalsa FC, Geylang International FC, Home United FC, Hougang United FC, Tampines Rovers FC and Warriors FC, met the minimum criteria in all areas of Sporting, Infrastructure, Personnel and Administration, Legal and Finance as a requirement for participation in the S.League and AFC competitions for the 2016 season.

28 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 2.5.2 A team from AFC conducted a spot check on the implementation of Club Licensing in Singapore from 20 – 23 April 2015. The AFC team was generally satisfied with the implementation of the Club Licensing Scheme in all our local S.League clubs. 2.5.3 On 27 October 2015, an internal workshop on the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Club Licensing Administration System (CLAS) was conducted for all Club General Managers and Administrators in preparation for the implementation of the on-line AFC CLAS in 2016. 2.5.4 In addition, Kok Wai Leong, Director of Operations, was appointed as a member of the inaugural AFC Club Licensing Task Force Committee for a 5-year term period from 2016 - 2020.

2.6 Match Attendance 2.6.1 In 2015, Clubs continued to put in a lot of effort, through community outreach programmes and match day activities, to bring in the crowds to their stadiums. The S.League’s average match attendance was 1,301 in 2015, comparable to what was achieved in 2014 (1,298).

2.7 S.League Forum 2.7.1 The annual S.League Forum was conducted in the pre-season, on 13 February 2015, at the Republic Polytechnic for all Club Officials and Players. The forum included talks on Sport Integrity (Anti-Corruption) by a CPIB officer, and Laws of the Game by an official from the FAS Referees Department.

2.8 Match Statistical Analysis Reports 2.8.1 The S.League continued to provide all S.League Clubs with statistical match reports of the team and players’ tactical performances in matches played for the entire season. The reports assisted coaches in analysing the performances of their players and teams, and enhanced training and match preparations.

3. COMPETITIONS 3.1 Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League 3.1.1 The 20th season of the Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League kicked off on 1 March 2015 with the Great Eastern SG50 Charity Shield match. The traditional curtain raiser match to the 2015 season was between Warriors FC (2014 S.League Champions) and Balestier Khalsa FC (2014 RHB Singapore Cup Champions). The match also counted as the first S.League match of the season. In a tightly-contested match, Warriors FC won 1-0 to pick up not only the Great Eastern SG50 Charity Shield but also the three S.League points. A sum of more than $133,790 was raised and donated to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. 3.1.2 There was plenty of excitement and many surprises throughout the season. Despite two of the early favourites, Warriors FC and Home United FC, faltering towards the home stretch, it remained a tight race to the wire as the 2015 S.League Championship had to be decided on the final day of matches. Brunei DPMM FC hosted Balestier Khalsa FC at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium while Tampines Rovers FC was up against Harimau Muda at the Jurong West Stadium. 3.1.3 Both matches were played simultaneously on 21 November 2015 and Brunei DPMM FC clinched their first Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League title after overcoming Balestier Khalsa FC by a convincing 4-0 score-line. The S.League trophy was presented to the 2015 S.League Champions, Brunei DPMM FC, by Zainudin Nordin, FAS President, for the first time outside Singapore.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 29

2015 Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League Final Table Standings

TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS Brunei DPMM FC 27 15 7 5 48 26 22 52 Tampines Rovers FC 27 14 6 7 42 25 17 48 Albirex Niigata FC (S) 27 13 6 8 27 17 10 45 Balestier Khalsa FC 27 12 8 7 39 35 4 44 Warriors FC 27 11 4 12 40 51 -11 37 Home United FC 27 9 9 9 38 54 4 36 Harimau Muda 27 9 6 12 29 40 -11 33 Geylang International FC 27 7 7 13 36 44 -8 28 Courts Young Lions 27 7 6 14 30 43 -13 27 Hougang United FC 27 4 9 14 28 42 -14 21

3.2 RHB Singapore Cup 3.2.1 As in the previous editions, the 2015 RHB Singapore Cup saw the participation of foreign teams from Cambodia, represented by Svay Rieng FC; Laos, represented by Lao Police FC; and the Philippines, represented by Global FC. 3.2.2 Global FC did well to reach the semi-finals stage. It eliminated Hougang United FC 2-1 in the preliminary round and defeated Geylang International 4-1 in the quarter-final. However, it lost 1-3 on aggregate to Albirex Niigata FC (S) in the two-legged semi-final. In the other semi-final, Home United FC edged Brunei DPMM FC 4-3 on aggregate to reach the final. 3.2.3 The RHB Singapore Cup Final between Albirex Niigata FC (S) and Home United FC on 27 November 2015 at the Jalan Besar Stadium was attended by 4,617 fans. 3.2.4 The Guest of Honour, Acting Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng, presented the trophy and medals to first-time winner Albirex Niigata FC (S) when they beat Home United FC 2-1 in an exciting match to close the 2015 season. 3.2.5 In the 3rd/4th placing match played before the final, Brunei DPMM FC beat Global FC 3-1.

Final Standings: Champions : Albirex Niigata FC (S) 2nd Place : Home United FC 3rd Place : Brunei DPMM FC

3.3 The New Paper League Cup 3.3.1 In 2015, The New Paper League Cup competition was played from 26 June 2015 to 10 July 2015. As in previous years, two National Football League (NFL) Clubs were invited to participate in the competition. They were Singapore Recreation Club (SRC) and GFA Sporting Westlake FC. However, both teams did not get past the Group stage and were eliminated from the competition. 3.3.2 In the first semi-final, Albriex Niigata FC (S) easily saw off the challenge of Geylang International FC with a 3-0 win while Balestier Khalsa FC narrowly edged out Hougang United FC 3-2 in the other semi-final to reach the final.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 31 3.3.3 The final was played on 10 July 2015 at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Albirex Niigata FC (S) scored a late goal to beat Balestier Khalsa FC 2-1 and win the newly-christened The New Paper League Cup 2015. The 2,628-strong crowd saw Albirex Niigata FC (S) lifted the League Cup for the second time in its history in the S.League. Final Standings: Champions : Albirex Niigata FC (S) 2nd : Balestier Khalsa FC

3.4 Great Eastern-Yeo’s Prime League 3.4.1 The Great Eastern-Yeo’s Prime League was won by Tampines Rovers FC for the first time in its history since the inception of the Prime League in 1998. Home United FC and the National Football Academy (NFA) U-18 Team finished second and third respectively.

2015 Great Eastern-Yeo’s Prime League Final Table Standings

TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS Tampines Rovers FC 21 13 2 6 47 39 8 41 Home United FC 21 10 5 6 39 26 13 35 NFA U-18 21 10 3 8 29 33 -4 33 Balestier Khalsa FC 21 9 5 7 39 23 16 32 Hougang United FC 21 9 1 11 25 30 -5 28 Geylang International FC 21 8 4 9 38 49 -11 28 NFA U17 21 9 0 12 37 37 0 27 Warriors FC 21 4 4 13 18 35 -17 16

3.5 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Competitions 3.5.1 AFC Champions League (ACL) Play-Off Match Warriors FC (2014 S.League Champions) participated in the 2015 ACL play-offs. On 4 February 2015, the Warriors beat Myanmar’s Yadanarbon FC (1-1 AET and 6-5 on penalties) in Yangon in the first round, but lost 0-3 to China’s Guangzhou R & F FC in the second round on 10 February 2015 in Guangzhou. With that result, the Warriors went on to play in the AFC Cup competition. 3.5.2 AFC Cup Competition Warriors FC and Balestier Khalsa FC (2014 RHB Singapore Cup Champions) were the standard bearers for Singapore in this competition. Warriors FC were in Group D with Persipura Jayapura FC (Indonesia), Bengaluru FC (India) and Maziya FC (Maldives), while Balestier Khalsa FC had Kitchee FC (Hong Kong), Johor Darul Ta’zim (Malaysia) and East Bengal FC (India) in Group E. 3.5.3 However, both teams performed poorly – the Warriors lost all their six group matches while Balestier Khalsa had one win and 5 losses – and failed to progress to the knockout stage of the AFC Cup Competition.

32 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 4. MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS 4.1 S.League Fanfare 4.1.1 The Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League kick-started its 20th season with the S.League Fanfare and Football Fiesta held at Home United Youth Football Academy (HYFA) on 15 February 2015. 4.1.2 The event saw children and fans from S.League clubs take to the pitch with their favourite club players such Courts Young Lions’ Adam Swandi, Poh Yi Feng from Balestier Khalsa FC and Nicolas Velez from Warriors FC in a two-category football fiesta. 4.1.3 During the opening ceremony, the Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League announced a new five- year sponsorship agreement with its official water supplier, Polar Natural Mineral Water.

4.2 Sponsorship

Polar Water Sponsorship Renewal

4.2.1 Polar Natural Mineral Water, distributed by Field Catering & Supplies Pte Ltd (FCS), has been a strategic partner of the S.League since 2003. The announcement of a new 5-year sponsorship agreement, till 2019, was made at the S.League Fanfare held at Home United Youth Football Academy (HYFA) on 15 February 2015.

4.3 Match Day Initiatives 4.3.1 A series of initiatives that were popular with fans were retained for the 2015 S.League season. They were geared towards improving the match experience for spectators and fans. 4.3.2 These marketing activities not only educated and kept fans updated about their teams, but also helped to create a better match day experience.

S.League Club Mascots 4.3.3 Club mascots continued to be very popular at the matches, particularly for families. They enhanced the match day experience by engaging fans through various activities like dance- offs, taking “wefies”, as well as distributing S.League merchandise to kids and fans.

S.League Match Preview Clappers 4.3.4 Match day clappers enabled the majority of the fans to clap along with the cheering groups and music. Match previews and players’ photos printed on the clappers meant that they doubled up as Match Day programmes as well.

“Live” Streaming Trials 4.3.5 “Live” streaming was introduced for 22 S.League and Singapore Cup matches in 2015. Fans were able to catch these matches “live” over the internet and on mobile platforms. Total viewership was 156,240 with an average viewership of 7,101 per match.

4.4 Social Media Initiatives 4.4.1 Social media initiatives and activities were rolled out to engage both fans and followers throughout the season. These included the posting of previews, match reports, videos of match highlights, sharing of clubs’ activities, and players’ and coaches’ interviews on the S.League website and Facebook page after every match day. In addition, a dedicated Match Centre on the website to showcase the latest match statistics and club tactics, as well as an S.League Fantasy League contest with exciting prizes, completed the initiatives rolled out.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 33 4.4.2 Visits to the S.League website and the number of followers on the Facebook page have continued to grow. The number of Facebook “Likes” crossed the 26,000 mark in December 2015 – an increase of 21% from 22,165 at the end of 2014.

4.5 Print Media Initiatives 4.5.1 The S.League continued its good collaboration with The New Paper (TNP) to showcase the S.League in 2015.

4.5.2 Prior to every stage of the competition, TNP will publish a 5-page editorial featuring upcoming matches and key players of the teams.

4.5.3 S.League also used the opportunity to market its key matches, highlight match fixtures and profile exciting players

4.6 S.League Highlight Show and LIVE telecasts 4.6.1 MediaCorp was appointed as the producer and broadcaster for all ‘live’ S.League matches and the weekly highlights show in 2015. The official channel of the S.League was MediaCorp Okto.

4.6.2 There were a total of 33 ‘live’ matches in the 2015 S.League season. These included RHB Singapore Cup and The New Paper League Cup matches.

4.6.3 MediaCorp also provided ‘Catch-Up TV’ on its Toggle platform as another alternative for fans who missed the programmes.

4.6.4 Singtel TV was also appointed as broadcast partner and S.League ‘live’ matches were carried on Singtel TV Channel 109.

4.7 H-TWO-O / ITE Ultimate Champions League Finale 4.7.1 In a closely fought final, ITE College East School of Engineering edged out their counterparts from the School of Business 2-1 on penalties to emerge victorious in the H-TWO-O Ultimate Champions League 2015 held at ITE College Central on 15 May 2015. 4.7.2 The students who impressed during the tournament were given the opportunity to be selected for the H-TWO-O Ultimate Dream Team in separate trials. In addition, three players were selected by an ITE-appointed panel to watch Real Madrid in action at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

4. 8 Great Eastern SG50 Wishes Football Clinics with Aleksander Duric 4.8.1 S.League Co-Title Sponsor Great Eastern, with support from the S.League, collaborated to fulfil ex-international and three-time S.League Player of the Year Aleksandar Duric’s SG50 Wish to coach under-privileged students during the school holidays in 2015. 4.8.2 Duric fulfilled his wish when he conducted football clinics for close to 60 beneficiaries from Pertapis Children’s Home and Beyond Social Services on 20 March 2015 and 8 September 2015 respectively at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

4.9 RHB Junior Football Cup 2016 in Cambodia and Laos 4.9.1 As part of its regional brand expansion strategy, RHB Bank collaborated with the S.League to organise the inaugural RHB Junior Football Cup tournaments in Cambodia and Laos.

34 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 4.9.2 With a focus on youth development, the tournaments were organised with support from the Laos Football Federation, the Football Federation of Cambodia and Cambodian football club Nagaworld FC, and were held in Vientiane, Laos on 9 October 2015 and Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 27 June 2015. 4.9.3 Widely covered by the local media of the respective countries, about 400 children in 32 teams took part in both the tournaments.

4.10 The Sultan of Selangor’s Cup 4.10.1 On 10 September 2015, the S.League received and presented 500 complimentary tickets for the 14th Edition of the Sultan of Selangor’s Cup 2015 to fans of the various S.League clubs as well as the LionsXII in a ceremony held at Jalan Besar Stadium.

4.10.2 The GuestofHonour, Tan Sri Dato’ Abd Karim Munisar, Organising Chairman of the Sultan of Selangor’s Cup and Team Manager of the Selangor Selection, was in attendance to present the tickets to the fans.

4.10.3 A total of 30 buses with 1,140 fans travelled up to Shah Alam Stadium on 24 October 2015 to support the Singapore Selection and Singapore Veterans as they took on their Selangor counterparts.

4.10.4 Unfortunately, the 2015 Sultan of Selangor’s Cup was called off due to very unhealthy haze conditions in Shah Alam. Fans, however, were cheered when they were joined by players and coaches from the Singapore Selection and Singapore Veterans during dinner specially arranged by the Selangor FA at the Shah Alam Stadium.

4.11 Orange Ribbon Run 2015 4.11.1 About 120 S.League players, officials and staff, together with 300 children from FAS’ Junior Centres of Excellence, showed their support at the Orange Ribbon Run held at Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza on 29 August 2016.

4.11.2 This was the third consecutive year the S.League participated in this annual event as a strong and collective show of support against racism.

4.11.3 Several local and foreign football personalities such as referee Muhammad Taqi, Fandi Ahmad, Madhu Mohana, Stanely Ng, Jozef Kaplan and Atsushi Kawata were also featured in a video to send home the “Say No to Racism” message.

4.12 RHB Singapore Cup Final 4.12.1 The RHB Singapore Cup Final was contested between Albirex Niigata FC (S) and Home United FC on 27 November 2016 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

4.12.2 The event was widely publicised through advertisements in The New Paper, on social media platforms like Facebook, as well as through our community channels and partners. RHB Bank staff and their families also turned out to catch the action.

4.12.3 4,617 fans were entertained by cheerleaders from Albirex Niigata FC (S), the S.League Mascots, local acoustic band The Passerby as well as lucky draws during the break.

4.12.4 The Guest of Honour, Acting Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng, presented the trophy and medals to first-time winner Albirex Niigata FC (S) when they beat Home United FC 2-1 in an exciting match as a finale to the 2015 season.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 35 4.13 Singapore Pools FA Cup Final 4.13.1 The FA Cup final was played on 29 November 2015 at Serangoon Stadium. Home United’s Prime League team defeated Police Sports Association 5-1.

4.14 S.League Awards Night 2015 4.14.1 The 20th S.League Awards Night was held on 30 November 2016 at the Marina Bay Sands. The Guest of Honour was FAS Senior Advisor Mah Bow Tan, and the event was attended by guests, sponsors, officials, players and fans.

4.14.2 The Award Winners were:

Coach of the Year : Steve Kean (Brunei DPMM FC) Player of the Year : Fumiya Kogure (Albirex Niigata FC (S)) Young Player of the Year : Azwan Ali (Brunei DPMM FC) Top Scorer : Rafael Ramazotti (Brunei DPMM FC) Goal of the Year : Shotaro Ihata (Albirex Niigata FC) Referee of the Year : Jansen Foo Assistant Referee of the Year : Lim Kok Heng Fair Play : Geylang International FC Fan Club of the Year : Courts Young Lions

4.14.3 The S.League also presented a special tribute to Teo Hock Seng, Chairman of Tampines Rovers FC and Leong Kok Fann, Chairman of Geylang International FC. It was in recognition of their illustrious and outstanding contributions to their clubs, the S.League and Singapore football. Both stepped down as Chairmen of their respective clubs at the end of the 2015 season.

5. Conclusion

5.1 The 2015 Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League celebrated its 20th season with exciting performances both on and off the pitch with the Championship again going down to the wire.

5.2 It was another successful year made possible with the tremendous support from all our key stakeholders – our fans and supporters, sponsors, media partners, community partners, players, coaches, clubs officials and staff.

5.3 The S.League will continue to explore new ideas and opportunities to make it even more exciting, competitive and entertaining for everyone in 2016.

Prepared by: KOK WAI LEONG Director of Operations, S.League

Vetted by: LIM CHIN Chief Executive Officer, S.League

Approved by: ZAINUDIN NORDIN President,Football Association of Singapore

36 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016)

FOOTBALL EXCELLENCE

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Football Excellence Committee oversees the following key football development and excellence programmes of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS):

(a) Coach Education; (b) Junior Centres of Excellence (JCOE); (c) Centres of Excellence (COE); (d) National Football Academy (NFA); (e) National Teams.

2. COACH EDUCATION

2.1 AFC Coaching Certification Courses

2.1.1 Developing coaches is a key pillar of our FAS Strategic Plan and, in this regard, FAS has in place a Coaches Development Pathway.

2.1.2 FAS continues to train more coaches annually, and we currently have 810 active AFC-certified local coaches.

2.1.3 The response to the AFC ‘C’ Coaching Certificate Courses is always overwhelming. The maximum number of applicants for each course is 24, but we consistently receive overwhelming response of about 50 to 60 applicants. All applicants must undergo a theory test as a pre-requisite, as well as a national skills’ assessment before being considered for the course. Those who are not selected will be put on a waiting list, and priority will be given to them for the next available course. This is in line with AFC guidelines, which stress that Member Associations should aim for quality rather than quantity when it comes to certifying coaches.

2.1.4 The summary of coaching courses conducted between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016 are as follows:

AFC ‘C’ Certificate 20 July – 01 Aug 2015 No. of Participants: 23 No. of Passes: 09 No. of Provisional Passes: 02 No. of Failures: 12

05 – 17 December 2015 No. of Participants: 20 No. of Passes: 08 No. of Provisional Passes: 06 No. of Failures: 06

AFC ‘B’ Certificate 08 – 27 June 2015 No. of Participants: 21 No. of Passes: 14 No. of Provisional Passes: NIL No. of Failures: 07

2.2 Number of AFC-certified Coaches in Singapore

2.2.1 The current number of AFC-certified local coaches registered with FAS is as shown below:

38 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016)

No. of AFC Certified Coaches 2012 2013 2014 2015 AFC Pro Diploma 20 20 22 22 AFC ‘A’ Certificate 45 49 58 56 AFC ‘B’ Certificate 145 151 142 153 AFC ‘C’ Certificate 412 498 563 579 Total 622 718 785 810

2.3 AFC Instructors – Singapore

2.3.1 The following Coaching Instructors from Singapore are regularly appointed by AFC to conduct coaching courses in Singapore and overseas:

Coaching AFC Courses S/N Name AFC Designation Qualifications Conducted FIFA-AFC 1 PN Sivaji AFC Pro Diploma AFC ‘A’ Certificate Instructor Vincent FIFA-AFC 2 AFC Pro Diploma AFC ‘A’ Certificate Subramaniam Instructor FIFA-AFC 3 Mohamed Basir AFC Pro Diploma AFC ‘B’ Certificate Instructor 4 Mike Wong AFC Pro Diploma AFC Instructor AFC ‘A’ Certificate 5 S Arasu AFC ‘A’ Certificate AFC Instructor AFC ‘B’ Certificate 6 Robert Lim AFC ‘A’ Certificate AFC Instructor AFC ‘B’ Certificate Mohamed 7 AFC ‘A’ Certificate MA Instructor AFC ‘C’ Certificate Zainudeen AFC ‘C’ Certificate 8 Rameshpal Singh AFC ‘A’ Certificate MA Instructor & GK modules 9 S Subramani AFC ‘A’ Certificate MA Instructor AFC ‘C’ Certificate 10 Stephen Ng AFC Pro Diploma MA Instructor AFC ‘C’ Certificate

2.4 FAS’ Weekly Coaches Morning Sessions

2.4.1 For In the first quarter of 2016, the Coaches Morning sessions were conducted by Head Coach, National Youth Teams Richard Tardy and Head, Coach Education Mohamed Basir. These sessions were attended by S.League COE youth coaches. The main objective of these sessions was to improve the technical and tactical knowledge of our COE coaches. A total of six sessions were conducted on 19 January 2016, 16 February 2016, and 1, 4, 11 and 16 March 2016.

2.5 FAS’ Monthly Coaches Evening Sessions

2.5.1 FAS also conducts monthly Coaches Evening sessions for the JCOE coaches. Similar to the Coaches Morning sessions, these evening sessions are held to continuously assist these coaches in building their capacity and capability in developing youth footballers, including aligning their coaching methodologies with the National Football Syllabus. In the first quarter of 2016, two sessions were conducted on 24 February and 29 March.

2.6 FIFA Elite Youth Workshop (01 – 05 February 2016)

2.6.1 Some 29 coaches from the FAS NFA and the youth teams of the six local S.League clubs – Balestier Khalsa FC, Geylang International FC, Home United FC, Hougang United FC, Tampines Rovers FC, and Warriors FC – participated in the FIFA Elite Youth Workshop. FAS Technical Director Michel Sablon had specially handpicked a very experienced and knowledgeable FIFA, UEFA and Switzerland Football Federation’ coach instructor, Dany Ryser, to conduct the Workshop.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 39 2.6.2 Mr Ryser has coached many elite youth and professional teams. He was the coach of Switzerland’s U-17 Team which won the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup played in Nigeria, beating the host 1-0 in the final.

2.6.3 During the Workshop, the NFA U-14 and NFA U-15 boys acted as subjects for the youth coaches to apply the tactics and drills learned, and also for the instructor to demonstrate his coaching drills and philosophies to the participating coaches.

2.6.4 As part of the post-Workshop programming, Head Coach, National Youth Teams Richard Tardy conducts fortnightly sessions to reinforce the coaching philosophy with the coaches.

2.7 FIFA Goalkeeping Workshop (23 – 27 February 2016)

2.7.1 A total of 21 coaches from FAS NFA, S.League clubs’ COE, JCOE, Women’s National Team and schools were invited to attend the FIFA Goalkeeping Workshop under instructor Marc Van Geersom from Belgium. He was assisted by Guy Martens, then the Consulting Goalkeeper Coach, and Frederic De Boever, Goalkeeper Coach.

2.7.2 The Instructor was very positive about the course and highlighted the exemplary organisation and the professional execution of the event as well as the active participation of the participants.

3. JUNIOR CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

3.1 For 2016, FAS refined the Junior Centres of Excellence (JCOE) programmes. There will be four JCOE Advanced Centres and four JCOE Development Centres for the North, South, East and West Zones. The JCOE Advanced Centres will have three training days per week per age group on Saturday, Sunday and one weekday. JCOE Development Centres will train twice weekly on Saturday and Sunday. Each Centre will have a projected 10 players per age group from the following categories: U-10, U-11, U-12 and U-13.

3.2 The 8 JCOE Centres and the latest venues for training are as follows:

(a) JCOE Advanced Centre North – Orchid Park Sec (b) JCOE Advanced Centre South – Queensway Sec (c) JCOE Advanced Centre East – Tampines Sec (d) JCOE Advanced Centre West – Hong Kah Sec (e) JCOE Development Centre North – Marsiling Sec (f) JCOE Development Centre South – Ang Mo Kio Sec (g) JCOE Development Centre East – Tampines Sec (co-shared) (h) JCOE Development Centre West – Chua Chu Kang Sec

3.3 Players the participating players were selected from two trials. An open trial was conducted on Saturday 13 February 2016 at Serangoon Stadium. Players who wished to be selected for the JCOE teams this year had to attend this trial, unless they were already in the JCOE in 2015.

3.4 Those who successfully impressed the coaches and technical staff present were invited to attend a second trial on Saturday 20 February 2016 at the same venue. This second trial also involved players in the 2015 JCOE teams, and other players identified through the FAS’ talent scouting programme.

3.5 As part of continuous improvement to JCOE goalkeeping training, the Goalkeeper Academy Singapore was mooted with a view of improving the standard of goalkeeping among the elite youth players. This specialised training is for players 10 years old and above under the supervision of Goalkeeping Coach Frederic De Boever.

3.6 The coaches for this year have higher qualifications and are more experienced. FAS targeted coaches who have prior experience with youth coaching to assist in the programme.

40 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 3.7 As part of our constant effort to improve the players, the ‘Goalkeeper Academy Singapore’ (GAS) was duly launched this year with the vision of educating Singapore’s young goalkeepers aged 10-16 on the modern vision of goalkeeping. It was conceptualised and brought to fruition by former FAS consultant Goalkeeper Coach Guy Martens and FAS Goalkeeper Coach Frederic De Boever, with both coming up with the coaching manual for the Academy. Guy Martens is renowned as the goalkeeper coach who developed English Premier League club Chelsea FC’s Thibaut Courtois and many others such as Sinan Bolat, László Köteles and Logan Bailly.

4. CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE (COE)

4.1 Besides Balestier Khalsa FC, Home United FC and Warriors FC, two more S.League clubs came on board to have their own COE teams. They are Hougang United FC and Tampines Rovers FC. Below are the names of the coaches for the respective teams:

Age Group BKFC HGFC HUFC TRFC WFC Competition D. Tokijan ------(U-12) Under-13 Darus Han Yiguang Steve Vilmiaire Jasni Hatta -- Salleh (U-13) (U-13) (U-13) (U-13) Norhalis Shukor Firdaus Salleh Yayha Madon Under-14 -- Shafik Zailan (U-14) (U-14) (U-14) (U-14) Effendi Miur Rafik Syed Karim -- -- Rahmat (U-15) (U-15) (U-15) Under-16 Md Fairuz Azlan Dalis Supait Syed Azmir -- Shah Alipah (U-16) (U-16) (U-16) (U-16) Fadzuhasny Yao Nasaruddin Jalil -- Juraime -- Peikang (U-17) (U-17) (U-17) Under-18 Firdaus Raziff Onn Haris Sumri Nahar Daud Kassim -- (U-18) (U-18) (U-18) (U-18)

4.2 The teams participated in U-13 Developmental League, U-14 Developmental League, U-16 League and U-18 League according to their respective age groups.

4.3 For both the U-13 and U-14 Developmental Leagues, to encourage a ‘competing’ philosophy rather than ‘winning’, no league table was tabulated.

4.4 The U-16 and U-18 leagues were supposed to be played over 2 rounds and concluded by September 2015. However, as the haze levels were in the high end of the unhealthy range and at times air quality entered hazardous levels, the matches were cancelled. The option of extending the league would inadvertently disrupt the players’ preparation for the school examinations. Therefore, in the best interest of the students’ welfare and education, it was confirmed by the Competitions department, with the consensus of the affected clubs, to suspend the league.

4.5 The COE Under-16 league concluded with the top three teams finishing as: (a) 1st Place: Home United FC under-16 (b) 2nd Place: Home United FC under-15 (c) 3rd Place: Tampines Rovers FC under-16

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 41

4.6 The COE Under-18 league concluded with the top three teams finishing as: (a) 1st Place: NFA under-16 (b) 2nd Place: Warriors FC under-18 (c) 3rd Place: Home United FC under-18

5. NATIONAL FOOTBALL ACADEMY

5.1 Our youth development programmes are improving at the various national age-group levels, through the concerted efforts within our National Football Academy’s (NFA) elite football development programme.

5.2 The 2015 NFA comprised of six NFA teams and the following FAS staff coaches were appointed as head coaches of the respective teams:

(a) NFA Under-18 - Takuya Inoue (b) NFA Under-17 - Saswadimata Dasuki (c) NFA Under-16 - Robin Chitrakar (d) NFA Under-15 - V Selvaraj (e) NFA Under-14 - Teng Wei Ken (f) NFA Under-13 - Shahrin Shari

5.3 Below is a summary of each NFA team’s progress report in 2015:

5.4 NFA Under-13

5.4.1 In 2015, the NFA U-13 team comprising of players who are aged 13 years and below participated in the COE U-13 League that plays matches on a weekly basis. This is a developmental league which culminates with the COE Challenge Cup that consists of 3 other teams: Balestier Khalsa FC, Home United FC and Warriors FC.

5.5 NFA Under-14

5.5.1 The NFA U-14 team participated in the COE U-16 League and finished in th4 in this tournament.

5.5.2 In preparation for the AFC Football Festival in August 2015, the NFA U-14 team led by coach Rob Servais travelled to Hanoi, Vietnam from 14-19 March 2015 for a training tour. The team played the Vietnamese National U-14 and U-15 teams. The results of their training tour were as follows:

Date Opponent Result 15 March 2015 Viettel U-14 Team Lost 1-2 16 March 2015 Hanoi T&T U-15 Lost 0-5 18 March 2015 Viettel Hanoi U-14 Team Lost 1-6

5.5.3 The NFA U-14 team travelled to Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam for the AFC U-14 Festival of Football from 16-23 August 2015. This friendly competition requires every player in the team to be fielded to fulfil developmental objectives. The results of the AFC U-14 Festival were as follows:

Date Opponent Result 18 August 2015 Vietnam Lost 1-2 19 August 2015 Laos Won 1-0 21 August 2015 Thailand Lost 1-5

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 43 5.6 NFA Under-15

5.6.1 The NFA U-15 Team participated in the COE U-18 League and finished in th4 in this tournament.

5.6.2 In preparation for the Asean Football Federation (AFF) U-16 championship and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 qualifiers in July and September 2015, the NFA U-15 Team led by Head Coach V. Selvaraj travelled to Osaka, Japan from 17-22 March 2015 for a training tour.

5.6.3 The results of the matches played were as follows:

Date Opponent Result 18 March 2015 Gamba Osaka U-15 Lost 1-2 20 March 2015 Kyoto Sanga U-15 Lost 0-4 21 March 2015 Cerezo Osaka U-15 Drew 1-1

5.6.4 The NFA U-15 Team played a friendly against the Malaysia U-15 Team on 30 May 2015 and came away with a convincing 3-1 win at the Singapore Sports School.

5.6.5 In preparation for the AFF U-16 championship and AFC U-16 qualifiers, the NFA U-15 Team travelled to Thailand from 12 - 21 June 2015. The results of the matches played were as follows:

Date Opponent Result 14 June 2015 Chonburi Academy U-15 Lost 0-7 17 June 2015 Assumption College U-15 Lost 3-4 20 June 2015 Sport Pattana Lost 1-2

5.6.6 The NFA U-15 Team travelled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 25 July to 4 August to do battle with Cambodia, Laos, Australia and Philippines in the Asean Football Federation U-16 Qualifiers. The qualifiers also served as preparation for the AFC U-16 Qualifiers hosted by Singapore. The team was coached by V. Selvaraj and assisted by Teng Wei Ken. Lydia Lim-Goh was the Team Manager.

Date Opponent Result 28 July 2015 Myanmar Lost 1-3 30 July 2015 Philippines Won 4-1 1 August 2015 Australia Lost 2-8 3 August 2015 Cambodia Drew 0-0

5.6.7 The AFC U-16 Qualifiers was hosted by Singapore. The matches were played at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The results were as follows:

Date Opponent Result 2 September 2015 Thailand Lost 0-5 4 September 2015 DPR Korea Lost 0-3 6 September 2015 Cambodia Won 3-1

5.7 NFA Under-16

5.7.1 The NFA U-16 Team participated in the COE U-18 League and finished in st1 place in this tournament.

44 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 5.7.2 The NFA U-16 Team travelled to Saitama, Japan from 18 - 24 June 2015 for a training tour.

5.7.3 The results of the matches played were as follows:

Date Opponent Result 19 June 2015 Seiritsu U-18 Lost 0-6 21 June 2015 Omiya Ardija U-16 Lost 1-3 23 June 2015 Saitama Heisei Won 2-1

5.7.4 The 26th edition of the Lion City Cup was held between Friday 14 August and Sunday 16 August 2015. English Premier League giants Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur was represented by their U-15 teams, who were up against Singapore’s NFA U-15 and U-16 teams. Tottenham Hotspur were crowned champions of the 26th Lion City Cup after their U-15 side secured a resounding 4-0 victory over Liverpool’s U-15s in the final.

5.8 NFA Under-17

5.8.1 The NFA U-17 Team travelled to Thailand from 3 - 11 June 2015 and played four matches.

5.8.2 The results of the matches played were as follows:

Date Opponent Result 4 June 2015 Phatong FC Lost 1-2 6 June 2015 Sport Pattana FC Won 2-1 8 June 2015 Laemchabang FC Won 3-0 10 June 2015 Chonburi FC Lost 1-6

5.9 NFA Under-18

5.9.1 In preparation for the Asean Football Federation (AFF) championship and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 qualifiers, the NFA U-18 Team travelled to Saitama, Japan from 21-29 June 2015.

5.9.2 The results of the matches played were as follows:

Date Opponent Result 22 June 2015 JEF United Lost 0-10 23 June 2015 Yokohama F. Marinos U-18 Lost 0-7 25 June 2015 Omiya Ardija U-16 Lost 1-2 27 June 2015 Yokogawa Musashino Lost 0-6 28 June 2015 Omiya Ardija U-17 Lost 1-6

5.9.3 Similar to the NFA U-17 team, the NFA U-18 team also participated in the 2015 Great Eastern-Yeo’s Prime League as part of their development programme.

5.9.4 The NFA U-18 Team prepared for the AFC qualifiers in October 2015by playing a friendly with the Johor Darul Ta’zim U19 Team at the Bandar Penawar Stadium on 14 May 2015. The match ended in a 0-0 draw.

5.9.5 The NFA U-18 Team then played a friendly against the U-19 team of Malaysia Super League team Felda United on 10 July 2015 at Serangoon Stadium, winning 2-0.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 45 5.9.6 In preparation for the AFC U-19 Qualifiers in Bangkok, Thailand, our NFA U-18 Team trav- elled to Vientiane, Laos from 20 August to 1 September 2015 to face Myanmar, Malaysia, Vietnam and Timor Leste in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) U-19 Qualifiers. The team is led by Head Coach Takuya Inoue, who was assisted by Toni Teo. The Team Manager was Kevin Wong. The following results were obtained:

Date Opponent Result 23 August 2015 Myanmar Lost 0-1 25 August 2015 Malaysia Lost 0-4 29 August 2015 Vietnam Lost 0-6 31 August 2015 Timor Leste Drew 1-1

5.9.7 The NFA U-18 Team then travelled to Thailand from 26 September to 7 October 2015 to participate in the AFC U-19 Qualifiers. Singapore was in Group H, and obtained the following results:

Date Opponent Result 28 September 2015 South Korea Lost 2-6 30 September 2015 Northern Mariana Islands Won 10-0 4 October 2015 Thailand Lost 0-3 6 October 2015 Chinese Taipei Drew 2-2

5.10 NFA GRADUATION CEREMONY

5.10.1 After a tough but fruitful season consisting of our local Centre of Excellence Leagues (COE), Prime League, training tours and regional international tournaments such as the bi-annual Asean Football Federation (AFF) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qualifiers for our NFA U-16 and U-18 players, we concluded the season with our yearly National Football Academy Graduation Ceremony. The most outstanding NFA player was also recognised with The New Paper Dollah Kassim Award. The event was staged at Jurongville Secondary School.

5.10.2 Established in memory of legendary Singapore footballer the late Dollah Kassim, The New Paper Dollah Kassim Award honours the brightest young talent in Singapore and is the most anticipated annual award among youth footballers here. This year, six youth players from the NFA age groups were selected. They were:

1) Benjamin James Davis from NFA U-15 2) Glen Kweh Jia Jia Jin from NFA U-15 3) Muhammad Saifullah Bin Mohd Akbar from NFA U-16 4) Elliot Ng Shao Han from NFA U-16 5) Justin Hui Yong Kang from NFA U-17 6) Joshua Bernard Pereira from NFA U-18

5.10.3 The award was bagged by Joshua Bernard Pereira along with the Passport of Excellence. The winner gets an overseas training stint with a European football club.

5.11 Players’ Attachments

5.11.1 Three of our National Football Academy boys had the opportunity to visit, train with and immerse themselves in the professional top flight environment of European club FC Metz from 13 - 21 March 2015. The boys were accompanied by our NFA U-16 Coach Robin Chitrakar. Muhammad Muhelmy Bin Suhaimi was the 2014 The New Paper Dollah Kassim Award recipient, while Benjamin James Davis and Muhammad Hami Syahin Bin Said were talent scouted and therefore given the opportunity utilise our Football Development Fund to join Muhelmy on this training stint.

46 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 5.11.2 Under the auspices of FAS sponsor Epson, Muhammad Nur Adam, Mohamad Hamizan and Elijah Lim embarked on a training stint with newly-promoted J.League side Matsumoto Yamaga FC from 22 - 28 June 2015.

6. NATIONAL TEAMS

6.1 Courts Young Lions (Under-23)

6.1.1 The 2015 Courts Young Lions (CYL) squad formed the nucleus of the 2015 South East Asian (SEA) Games team. The CYL team consisted of players aged 23 and under, which made them eligible for the SEA Games tournament held here in Singapore.

6.1.2 Under the guidance of Head Coach Aide Iskandar and Assistant Coach S Subramani, the team participated in the S.League to fast track their development for the SEA Games tournament. Juergen Raab was recruited as fitness coach while John Burridge was hired as goalkeeper coach to assist with the development of the players in preparation for the SEA Games.

6.1.3 The results of the matches played in the 2015 S.League season were as follows:

Date Details Results 2 March 2015 Hougang United vs CYL Drew 1-1 5 March 2015 Tampines Rovers vs CYL Lost 0-1 4 April 2015 Balestier Khalsa vs CYL Lost 1-5 10 April 2015 CYL vs Harimau Muda Lost 0-1 15 April 2015 Albirex Niigata vs CYL Lost 0-2 20 April 2015 CYL vs Warriors Lost 1-2 28 April 2015 Home United vs CYL Won 1-0 20 July 2015 CYL vs Hougang United Lost 1-3 23 July 2015 Warriors vs CYL Won 2-0 26 July 2015 CYL vs Brunei DPMM Drew 1-1 31 July 2015 CYL vs Balestier Khalsa Drew 2-2 3 August 2015 Harimau Muda vs CYL Lost 2-3 6 August 2015 CYL vs Albirex Niigata Lost 0-1 20 August 2015 Geylang International vs CYL Won 3-1 23 August 2015 Brunei DPMM vs CYL Lost 0-2 27 August 2015 CYL vs Home United Lost 0-2 19 September 2015 Tampines Rovers vs CYL Won 1-0 22 September 2015 CYL vs Brunei DPMM Lost 1-2 27 September 2015 CYL vs Tampines Rovers Lost 1-3 1 October 2015 Hougang United vs CYL Drew 2-2 4 October 2015 CYL vs Geylang International Lost 2-3 16 October 2015 CYL vs Warriors Won 2-1 19 October 2015 Balestier Khalsa vs CYL Lost 0-1 27 October 2015 CYL vs Harimau Muda Drew 1-1 2 November 2015 Albirex Niigata vs CYL Won 1-0 6 November 2015 CYL vs Geylang International Drew 2-2 15 November 2015 Home United vs CYL Lost 1-2

6.1.4 The Courts Young Lions sat out of both the 2015 RHB Singapore Cup and the 2015 The New Paper League Cup as they used this time to prepare for the 2015 SEA Games.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 47 6.1.5 The Courts Young Lions team finished ninth out of 10 teams in the 2015 S.League season.

6.1.6 With the resignation of Coach Aide Iskandar after the conclusion of the SEA Games football tournament, Juergen Raab took over the head coaching duties for the remainder of the 2015 season. The team did remarkably well by beating several top teams including Tampines Rovers FC and Warriors FC.

6.1.7 For the 2016 Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League season, Patrick Hesse was hired as the Head Coach, while V Selvaraj was promoted to Assistant Coach. Frederic De Boever was also recruited as Goalkeeper Coach.

6.1.8 Garena also became the Young Lions team’s new title sponsor for the 2016 season. It was a coup for the Young Lions as this marked the biggest sponsorship deal for an S.League club in the 21-year history of the domestic professional football competition.

6.1.9 The team kicked off the 2016 with a hard fought victory over Balestier Khalsa FC. The results in the 2016 S.League season up till 31 March 2016 are as follows:

Date Details Results 14 February 2016 GYL vs Balestier Khalsa Won 1-0 20 February 2016 GYL vs Albirex Niigata Lost 0-5 25 February 2016 GYL vs Geylang International Lost 0-2 4 March 2016 Warriors vs GYL Lost 0-2 10 March 2016 GYL vs Hougang United Lost 1-3 17 March 2016 Home United vs GYL Lost 1-4

6.2 LionsXII

6.2.1 Under the guidance of Head Coach Fandi Ahmad and Assistant Coach Nazri Nazir, the LionsXII team participated in the 2015 Malaysia Super League (MSL).

6.2.2 The results in the 2015 Malaysia Super League season are as follows:

LionsXII 2015 MSL Results

Date Details Results 7 February 2015 LionsXII vs PDRM Won 5-3 14 February 2015 Kelantan vs LionsXII Lost 0-2 21 February 2015 Perak vs LionsXII Drew 2-2 7 March 2015 KL Felda United vs LionsXII Drew 0-0 14 March 2015 Terengganu vs LionsXII Drew 1-1 4 April 2015 Pahang vs LionsXII Lost 2-3 11 April 2015 LionXII vs Johor Darul Ta’zim Drew 0-0 18 April 2015 Selangor vs LionsXII Lost 0-4 25 April 2015 LionsXII vs Sarawak Won 1-0 2 May 2015 KL Sime Darby vs LionsXII Won 2-1 20 June 2015 LionsXII vs ATM Won 3-1 23 June 2015 ATM vs LionsXII Drew 1-1 26 June 2015 PDRM vs LionsXII Won 2-1 4 July 2015 LionsXII vs Kelantan Won 3-0

48 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 8 July 2015 LionsXII vs Perak Won 2-1 2 August 2015 LionsXII vs KL Felda United Won 2-1 5 August 2015 Terengganu vs LionsXII Lost 2-4 8 August 2015 LionsXII vs Pahang Won 4-2 12 August 2015 Johor Darul Ta’zim vs LionsXII Lost 0-1 15 August 2015 LionsXII vs Selangor Drew 1-1 19 August 2015 Sarawak vs LionsXII Lost 1-2 22 August 2015 LionsXII vs KL Sime Darby FC Won 3-0

6.2.3 The LionsXII team finished seventh out of 12 teams in the 2015 MSL.

6.2.4 The LionsXII also participated in the 2015 Malaysia FA Cup competition. The team beat Kelantan 3-1 in the final at Bukit Jalil Stadium in front of 80,000 fans. Faris Ramli gave the team an early lead before Sahil Suhaimi grabbed two goals in the last 10 minutes to bring the Malaysia FA Cup across the causeway to Singapore. The results were as follows:

2015 FA Cup Round of 32

Date Details Results 28 February 2015 LionsXII vs PB Melayu Kedah Won 4-0

2015 FA Cup Round of 16

Date Details Results 21 March 2015 LionsXII vs KL SPA Putrajaya Won 4-0

2015 FA Cup Quarter-Final

Date Details Results 8 April 2015 LionsXII vs Johor Darul Ta’zim II Won 2-0 22 April 2015 Johor Darul Ta’zim II vs LionsXII Won 2-0

2015 FA Cup Semi-Final

Date Details Results 9 May 2015 LionsXII vs Terengganu Won 2-1 16 May 2015 Terengganu vs LionsXII Lost 2-3

2015 FA Cup Final

Date Details Results 23 May 2015 Kelantan vs LionsXII Won 3-1

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 49 6.2.5 LionsXII also participated in the 2015 Malaysia Cup competition. The results were as follows:

2015 Malaysia Cup Group Stage

Date Details Results 12 September 2015 LionsXII vs Kedah Drew 1-1 19 September 2015 Johor Darul Ta’zim II vs LionsXII Won 2-1 26 September 2015 LionsXII vs Terengganu Won 3-2 2 October 2015 Kedah vs LionsXII Lost 0-2 17 October 2015 LionsXII vs Johor Darul Ta’zim II Won 1-0 4 November 2015 Terengganu vs LionsXII Won 2-1

2015 Malaysia Cup Quarter-Final

Date Details Results 24 November 2015 LionsXII vs Pahang Lost 1-4 28 November 2015 Pahang vs LionsXII Won 2-0

6.2.6 The LionsXII team did not participate in the 2016 Malaysian football tournaments.

6.3 Under-21 National Team

6.3.1 As part of the preparations for the 2017 SEA Games, the Singapore Under-21 team participated in the Vietnam Youth Newspaper Cup 2015 which was held in Ho Chi Minh City from 18-30 November 2015.

6.3.2 Under the guidance of Head Coach Richard Tardy, the team finished third in the tournament after beating the Vietnam Newspaper U21 team 6-5 on penalties.

6.3.3 The results were as follows:

2015 Vietnam U21 Youth Newspaper Cup Results

Date Details Results 20 November 2015 Singapore U21 vs Thailand U21 Drew 2-2 Vietnam Youth Newspaper U21 vs 24 November 2015 Lost 1-2 Singapore U21 27 November 2015 Korea Republic U19 vs Singapore U21 Lost 0-3 Singapore U21 vs Vietnam Youth Drew 1-1 30 November 2015 Newspaper U21 Won 6-5 on penalties

6.3.4 The Singapore U21 team also played two international friendly matches against the Iran U21 team in Tehran, Iran. The results are as follows:

U21 Friendly Results Date Details Results 26 March 2016 Singapore U21 vs Iran U21 Lost 0-2 28 March 2016 Iran U21 vs Singapore U21 Lost 0-1

6.4 Under-23 National Team

6.4.1 As part of the preparations for the South East Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore, our

50 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) Under-23 National Team participated in the following international friendly matches. The results were as follows:

U-23 International Friendly Results

Date Details Results 23 May 2015 Singapore U23 vs Laos U23 Won 5-1 26 May 2015 Singapore U23 vs Timor Leste U23 Won 3-0

6.4.2 The team embarked on an eight-day training camp to Japan in May 2015 as part of their preparations for the 2015 SEA Games. The team played two games against Japanese opposition. The results were as follow:

Japan Training Camp Results

Date Details Results 14 May 2015 Singapore vs Azul Claro Numazu Lost 1-2 Singapore vs Shizuoka Sangyo 16 May 2015 Won 3-0 University

6.4.3 Singapore participated in the 2015 SEA Games, which was held in Singapore. The team’s group stage matches were held at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The team did not progress beyond the group stages. The results were as follows:

2015 SEA Games Results

Date Details Results 1 June 2015 Singapore vs Philippines Won 1-0 4 June 2015 Singapore vs Myanmar Lost 0-1 8 June 2015 Singapore vs Cambodia Won 3-1 11 June 2015 Singapore vs Indonesia Lost 0-1

6.5 National ‘A’ Team

6.5.1 The team was drawn together with Japan, Cambodia, Afghanistan and Syria in the joint FIFA World Cup 2018 & AFC Asian Cup 2019 Preliminary Qualification.

6.5.2 The Lions kicked off the qualification campaign with a 4-0 away win against Cambodia and followed that match with a commendable 0-0 draw with powerhouse Japan in Saitama.

6.5.3 The results of their matches were as follows:

FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualification Group E Results

Date Details Results 11 June 2015 Cambodia vs Singapore Won 4-0 16 June 2015 Japan vs Singapore Drew 0-0 3 September 2015 Syria vs Singapore Lost 0-1 8 October 2015 Singapore vs Afghanistan Won 1-0 13 October 2015 Singapore vs Cambodia Won 2-1 12 November 2015 Singapore vs Japan Lost 0-3 17 November 2015 Singapore vs Syria Lost 1-2 29 March 2016 Afghanistan vs Singapore Lost 1-2

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 51 6.5.4 As such, the team ended its qualifying campaign in third position in Group E and qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Final Qualification Round, which will commence in March 2017.

6.5.5 In preparation for this qualifying tournament, the team played the following friendly matches. The results of their matches were as follows:

National Team International Friendly Results

Date Details Results 30 May 2015 Bangladesh vs Singapore Won 2-1 7 June 2015 Singapore vs Brunei Darussalam Won 5-1 28 August 2015 Qatar vs Singapore Lost 0-4 24 March 2015 Singapore vs Myanmar Won 2-1

6.6 Singapore Selection

6.6.1 The 2015 Barclays Asia Trophy was the seventh edition of the Premier League Asia Trophy. Arsenal, Everton, Stoke City and a Singapore Selection XI, comprising mostly Singaporean footballers with a few foreign S.League players, competed for the Barclays Asia Trophy. It was held in Singapore at the National Stadium from 15-18 July 2015.

6.6.2 The results were as follows:

Singapore Selection results

Date Details Results 15 July 2015 Singapore Selection vs Arsenal Lost 0-4 18 July 2015 Singapore Selection vs Stoke City Lost 0-2

Prepared by: V. Rajan General Manager, Technical Department

Visakan Subramanian Teams Manager, National Teams Department

Vetted by: Yazeen Buhari Head, Development & Planning

Approved by: Mr Lim Kia Tong Chairman, Football Excellence Committee

52 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016)

GRASSROOTS & COMMUNITY OUTREACH

1. Introduction 1.1 The Football Association of Singapore’s (FAS) new grassroots manual was introduced at the FAS Cubs Grassroots Programme official launch on 15 August 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium. FAS President Zainudin Nordin was Guest of Honour at the event. Bernard Tan, FAS Vice President, Winston Lee, General Secretary, and Michel Sablon, Technical Director were also present.

2. Coaching Education 2.1 The FAS Grassroots Manual was produced by Michel Sablon, FAS Technical Director as a blueprint for grassroots football programmes. A dedicated FAS Grassroots Coaching Course was also introduced for the first time in the history of Singapore football.

2.2 Four FAS Grassroots Coaching Courses were conducted between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016:

Dates Venue Participants

16, 17, 23, 24 May 2015 Republic Polytechnic 25

5, 6, 12, 13 September 2015 People’s Association 35 7, 8, 14, 15 November 2015 Admiralty Primary School 32 24, 30, 31 January, Republic Polytechnic 57 1 February 2016

3. FAS Cubs Programme 3.1 The FAS Cubs progamme was established to promote children’s football and enable children to learn to play football and develop skills in a fun way. The programme is targeted at children aged 6 to 12. It aims to reach out to children who do not have the opportunity to play regular football, those who do not make it to the school team, and those whose schools do not offer football as a CCA. 3.2 The seven FAS Cubs centres launched up till 31 March 2016 are as follows:

Location Date of Launch Sembawang Primary School 2 April 2015 Queensway Secondary School 9 April 2015 Serangoon Sports Centre 5 June 2015 Admiralty Primary School 1 August 2015 Bowen Secondary School 16 August 2015 Hong Kah Secondary School 19 September 2015 Park View Primary School 1 February 2016

54 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 3.3 The programme consists of a 35-week syllabus touching on topics such as running with the ball, passing and control, shooting, and ball feel. On top of football-specific skills, the Cubs programme also aims to give children the opportunity to establish unique life skills, pick up the habit of leading a healthy lifestyle and learn positive character-building values such as good discipline, respect, tolerance and teamwork.

3.4 The FAS Grassroots Manual is adhered to at FAS Cubs centres.

4. AFC Grassroots Football Day 4.1 The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) marks Grassroots Football Day annually on 15 May. The FAS celebrated this occasion on 14, 15, 21 and 22 May 2015. The festivities included photo opportunity and parent-child bonding at our various Cubs centres and on the opening ceremony of the fourth FAS Grassroots Coaching course at Republic Polytechnic.

5. JFA / FAS Uniqlo Kids Soccer Festival 5.1 Together with the Japan Football Association (JFA), FAS hosted the Uniqlo Kids Soccer Festival for the second time on 7 November 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium. The event saw the participation of 352 children, who formed 44 teams. Hara Hiromi, General Secretary of JFA and Lim Kia Tong, Vice President of FAS graced the event.

6. FIFA Girls’ Festival 6.1 The FIFA Girls’ Festival was held for the second time in Singapore on 18 November 2015 at the Serangoon Stadium. Some 500 girls and their family members attended the festival featuring 5-a-side and 8-a-side matches, as well as football clinics.

7. FIFA Grassroots Workshop & Festival 7.1 FAS continued to host the FIFA Grassroots Workshop and Festival from 25-29 November 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium. Thirty-five participants attended the course conducted by FIFA instructor Dato’ Yap Nyim Keong. Almost 150 children participated in the practical workshops and festival held on the final day of the workshop. 7.2 The course participants were current FAS Cubs coaches, teachers, coaches who have graduated from the FAS Grassroots Coaching course – including coaches from the People’s Association Passion Kids Soccer programme – and S.League clubs’ youth coaches.

8. Schools’ CCA sessions 8.1 FAS conducted a seven-week programme for Park View Primary School during the school’s CCA hours, i.e. Friday mornings from 8.00-9.30am, with 50 children participating in this programme. These children are those not in the school team; thanks to this initiative, they were able to learn and undergo football training. It was a pilot project, and we hope more schools will engage FAS’ services for more of such activities in the near future.

9. FAS / SPSSC U10 Football Fiesta 9.1 In collaboration with Singapore Primary Schools Sports Council (SPSSC), FAS organised the inaugural Under-10 Football Fiesta incorporating fun games and small-sided games from the new FAS Grassroots Manual. Over 360 children from 27 primary schools participated in this fiesta on 14 March 2016 at the Serangoon Stadium.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 55 COMPETITIONS

The Competitions Committee facilitated in the organisation of the following international competitions and matches which were held in Singapore in 2015:

1. International Matches

The following international matches were played in Singapore in 2015: (a) FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers (Asian Zone, Round 2): (i) Singapore vs Afghanistan on 08 October 2015 at National Stadium Singapore (1) Afghanistan (0) (ii) Singapore vs Cambodia on 13 October 2015 at National Stadium Singapore (2) Cambodia (1) (iii) Singapore vs Japan on 12 November 2015 at National Stadium Singapore (0) Japan (3) (iv) Singapore vs Syria on 17 November 2015 at National Stadium Singapore (1) Syria (2)

(b) International Friendly Matches (National ‘A’ Team): (i) Singapore vs Brunei on 06 June 2015 at Jurong West Stadium Singapore (5) Brunei (1) (ii) Singapore vs Myanmar on 24 March 2016 at Jalan Besar Stadium Singapore (2) Myanmar (1)

(c) International Friendly Matches (Under-23/Under-22/Under-21 National Teams): (i) Singapore Under-23 vs Laos Under -23 on 23 May 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium Singapore Under-23 (5) Laos Under-23 (1) (ii) Singapore Under-23 vs Timor Leste Under-23 on 26 May 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium Singapore Under-23 (2) Timor Leste Under-23 (0)

(d) International Friendly Matches (Singapore Selection Team and Others): (i) Barclays Asia Trophy 2016 held at the National Stadium

15th July 2015 – Everton (0-0) Stoke City (0) *Everton won 5-4 on penalties 15th July 2015 – Singapore Select XI (0) Arsenal (4) 18th July 2015 – Stoke City (2) Singapore Select XI (0) 18th July 2015 – Everton (1) Arsenal (3) *Arsenal crowned champions of the Barclays Asia Trophy

56 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 2. 28th SEA Games Football Competition

FAS Competitions formed the Local Organising Committee for Football at the 28th SEA Games with Adrian Chan as the Competition Manager. Eleven teams were split into groups of five (Group A) and six (Group B). All Group A matches were played at Jalan Besar Stadium while Group B matches were played at Bishan Stadium.

Subsequently, the two semi-finals, Bronze and Gold Medal matches were played at the National Stadium.

(a) Group Stage

(i) Brunei (0) vs Vietnam (6) on 29 May 2015 at Bishan Stadium (ii) Laos (0) vs Thailand (6) on 29 May 2015 at Bishan Stadium (iii) Malaysia (1) vs Timor Leste (0) on 30 May 2015 at Bishan Stadium (iv) Brunei (1) vs Laos (2) on 31 May 2015 at Bishan Stadium (v) Philippines (0) vs Singapore (1) on 01 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (vi) Thailand (1) vs Timor Leste (0) on 01 June 2015 at Bishan Stadium (vii) Myanmar (4) vs Indonesia (2) on 02 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (viii) Vietnam (5) vs Malaysia (1) on 02 June 2015 at Bishan Stadium (ix) Cambodia (3) vs Philippines (1) on 03 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (x) Timor Leste (2) vs Brunei (1) on 03 June 2015 at Bishan Stadium (xi) Malaysia (0) vs Thailand (1) on 04 June 2015 at Bishan Stadium (xii) Singapore (1) vs Myanmar (2) on 04 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (xiii) Vietnam (1) vs Laos (0) on 04 June 2015 at Bishan Stadium (xiv) Indonesia (6) vs Cambodia (1) on 06 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (xv) Thailand (5) vs Brunei (0) on 06 June 2015 at Bishan Stadium (xvi) Philippines (1) vs Myanmar (5) on 07 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (xvii) Timor Leste (0) vs Vietnam (4) on 07 June 2015 at Bishan Stadium (xviii) Cambodia (1) vs Singapore (3) on 08 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (xix) Brunei (0) vs Malaysia (2) on 08 June 2015 at Bishan Stadium (xx) Indonesia (2) vs Philippines (0) on 09 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (xxi) Timor Leste (2) vs Laos (3) on 09 June 2015 at Bishan Stadium (xxii) Myanmar (3) vs Cambodia (3) on 10 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (xxiii) Vietnam (1) vs Thailand (3) on 10 June 2015 at Bishan Stadium (xxiv) Singapore (0) vs Indonesia (1) on 11 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (xxv) Laos (1) vs Malaysia (3) on 11 June 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 57 Semi-Finals 1. Myanmar (2) vs Vietnam (1) on 13 June 2015 at the National Stadium 2. Thailand (5) vs Indonesia (0) on 13 June 2015 at the National Stadium

Bronze Medal Match 3. Vietnam (5) vs Indonesia (0) on 15 June 2015 at the National Stadium

Gold Medal Match 4. Myanmar (0) vs Thailand (3) on 15 June 2015 at the National Stadium

3. AFC Cup 2015

In the 2015 edition of the AFC Cup, Warriors FC (2014 S.League champions) and Balestier Khalsa FC (2014 Singapore Cup champions) were Singapore’s representatives in this continental competition.

(a) Matches involving Warriors FC (Group Stage – Group D) (i) Warriors FC (1) vs Persipura Jayapura (INA) (3) on 24 February 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (ii) Warriors FC (0) vs Bengaluru FC (IND) (1) on 14 April 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (iii) Warriors FC (0) vs Maziya SC (MDV) (2) on 12 May 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium

(b) Matches involving Balestier Khalsa FC (Group Stage – Group E)

(i) Balestier Khalsa FC (0) vs Johor Darul Ta’zim (MAS) (1) on 10 March 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (ii) Balestier Khalsa FC (2) vs East Bengal FC (IND) (1) on 17 March 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium (iii) Balestier Khalsa FC (1) vs Kitchee FC (HK) (2) on 28 April 2015 at Jalan Besar Stadium

4. Malaysia Super League (MSL), Malaysia FA Cup 2015

The following MSL, Malaysia FA Cup and Malaysia Cup matches for the LionsXII team were played in Singapore and the details of these matches are as follows:

Malaysia Super League 2015

DATE OPPONENT VENUE SCORE 07 February 2015 PDRM Jalan Besar 5 – 3 (W) 14 March 2015 Terengganu FA Jalan Besar 1 – 1 (D) 11 April 2015 Johor Darul Ta’zim Jalan Besar 0 – 0 (D) 25 April 2015 Sarawak FA Jalan Besar 1 – 0 (W) 20 June 2015 ATM Jalan Besar 3 – 1 (W) 04 July 2015 Kelantan FA Jalan Besar 3 – 0 (W)

58 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 08 July 2015 Perak FA Jalan Besar 2 – 1 (W) 02 August 2015 Felda United Jalan Besar 2 – 1 (W) 08 August 2015 Pahang FA Jalan Besar 4 – 2 (W) 15 August 2015 Selangor FA Jalan Besar 1 – 1 (D) 22 August 2015 KL Sime Darby Jalan Besar 3 – 0 (W)

Malaysia Cup 2015

DATE STAGE OPPONENT VENUE SCORE 12 September 2015 Group Stage Kedah FA Jalan Besar 1 – 1 (D) 26 September 2015 Group Stage Terengganu FA Jalan Besar 3 – 2 (W) 17 October 2015 Group Stage Johor Darul Ta’zim II Jalan Besar 1 – 0 (W) 28 November 2015 Quarter-Final Pahang FA Jalan Besar 2 – 0 (W)

Malaysian FA Cup 2015

DATE STAGE OPPONENT VENUE SCORE 21 March 2015 Round 1 KL SPA Putrajaya Jalan Besar 4 – 0 (W) 8 April 2015 Quarter-Final Johor Darul Ta’zim II Jalan Besar 2 – 0 (W) 9 May 2015 Semi-Final Terengganu FA Jalan Besar 3 – 2 (W)

5. 8th Asean Para Games 2015

During the 8th Asean Para Games 2015, FAS Competitions formed the Local Organising Committee for two sports. Ashley Arriola was the Competition Manager for 7-a-Side Cerebral Palsy Football (CP Football) while Mavis Chan was the Competition Manager for Football 5-a-Side.

(a) CP Football Group Stage (All matches held at National Stadium)

i. Singapore (1) vs Indonesia (0) on 3 December 2015 ii. Thailand (6) vs Malaysia (1) on 3 December 2015 iii. Malaysia (2) vs Myanmar (7) on 4 December 2015 iv. Thailand (5) vs Indonesia (0) on 4 December 2015 v. Myanmar (5) vs Singapore (3) on 5 December 2015 vi. Indonesia (0) vs Malaysia (4) on 5 December 2015 vii. Singapore (0) vs Thailand (5) on 6 December 2015 viii. Indonesia (0) vs Myanmar (0) on 6 December 2015 ix. Malaysia (2) vs Singapore (4) on 7 December 2015 x. Myanmar (1) vs Thailand (5) on 7 December 2015

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 59 CP Football Bronze Medal Match Singapore (2) vs Malaysia (1) on 9 December 2015 at the National Stadium

CP Football Gold Medal Match Thailand (3) vs Myanmar (0) on 9 December 2015 at the National Stadium

(b) Football 5-a-Side Group Stage (All matches held at MBS Convention Centre)

i. Vietnam (0) vs Thailand (3) on 4 December 2015 ii. Singapore (0) vs Malaysia (3) on 4 December 2015 iii. Thailand (5) vs Singapore (0) on 6 December 2015 iv. Malaysia (0) vs Vietnam (0) on 6 December 2015 v. Singapore (0) vs Vietnam (2) on 8 December 2015 vi. Malaysia (2) vs Thailand (1) on 8 December 2015 *Malaysia crowned champions based on points

6. 26th Lion City Cup 2015 (All matches held at Jalan Besar Stadium)

The 26th Lion City Cup was held on 14 and 16 August 2015. The tournament consisted of four teams: NFA U15, NFA U16, and the U15 teams of Tottenham Hotspur FC and Liverpool FC.

i. NFA U15 (0) vs Tottenham Hotspur FC (3) on 14 August 2015 ii. NFA U16 (3) vs Liverpool FC (3) on 14 August 2015 *Liverpool FC won 5-3 on penalties iii. NFA U15 (2) vs NFA U16 (3) on 16 August 2015 iv. Tottenham Hotspur FC (4) vs Liverpool FC (0) on 16 August 2015

7. (AFC U16 Championship 2016 Qualifiers (All matches held at Jalan Besar Stadium)

Singapore hosted all matches for Group H of the AFC U16 Championship 2016 Qualifiers in September 2015. The group consisted of Singapore, Cambodia, DPR Korea and Thailand.

i. DPR Korea (7) vs Cambodia (0) on 02 September 2015 ii. Thailand (5) vs Singapore (0) on 02 September 2015 iii. Cambodia (0) vs Thailand (1) on 04 September 2015 iv. Singapore (0) vs DPR Korea (3) on 04 September 2015 v. DPR Korea (2) vs Thailand (0) on 06 September 2015 vi. Singapore (3) vs Cambodia (1) on 06 September 2015

60 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) The Committee places on record their appreciation to the many volunteers who served in the Competitions Committee as well as those who assisted during match day operations for their hard work and dedication in organising and facilitating all of the above matches played in Singapore.

Prepared by: Adrian Chan Deputy Director, Competitions

Vetted by: Yazeen Buhari Head, Development and Planning

Approved by: Mohd Muzammil Chairman, Competitions Committee

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 61

REFEREES

1. TOTAL NUMBER OF FAS REGISTERED REFEREES

1.1 Referees perform a vital role in a football match with their split-second decisions. With the increased popularity of the sport among women and children, the demand for match officials is increasing.

1.2 Under the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Strategic Plan, we have a policy of ongoing training for our referees to ensure that refereeing standards continue to improve and the Laws of the Game are applied correctly and consistently.

1.3 We are pleased to note that our referees and assistant referees are well-recognised and continue to receive appointments for high-profile matches and competitions. In addition, FIFA Referee Muhammad Taqi was selected for the FIFA U20 World Cup 2015 in New Zealand and FIFA Women Referee Abirami Naidu was selected for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada.

1.4 Please see below for a summary of the FAS Registered Referees for 2015, as of 31 December 2015:

2013 2014 2015 FIFA Referee 6 6 5 FIFA Women Referee 1 1 1 FIFA Assistant Referee 7 7 8 FIFA Women Assistant Referee 1 1 1 National 2 4 4 Class 1 26 28 27 Class 2 30 27 28 Class 3 107 97 125 Reserve Class - 5 - TOTAL 180 176 199

2. INTERNATIONAL APOINTMENTS

2.1 FIFA 2015 Registration

2.1.1 FIFA registered the following FAS registered referees as new FIFA Assistant Referees in 2015:

(a) Manoj Kalwani (b) Daniel Wong Shi Jie

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 63 2.2 FIFA / AFC Appointments in 2015

2.2.1 Our FIFA Referees and Assistant Referees continued to perform well in 2015. Many of them were appointed to officiate in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, FIFA U20 World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup, Women’s Olympic Football tournaments, AFC Champions League, AFC Cup, SEA Games and AFC age group competitions and were also involved in international friendly matches played in Asia.

2.3 FIFA U20 World Cup 2015 – New Zealand

2.3.1 Muhammad Taqi was appointed by FIFA for the FIFA U20 World Cup 2015 which was held in New Zealand from 24 May - 20 June 2015.

2.4 FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 – Canada

2.4.1 Abirami Naidu, our FIFA Women Referee, was appointed by FIFA for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 held in Canada from 27 May - 5 Jul 2015.

2.5 AFC Champions League & AFC Cup

2.5.2 Muhammad Taqi and his team consisting of Jeffrey Goh and Lim Kok Heng officiated the AFC Cup 2015 semi-final second leg in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

2.5.3 Sukhbir Singh, Jansen Foo, Ahmad A’Qashah, Farhad Mohamed, Ong Chai Lee and Muhammad Syarqawi were appointed for matches in the AFC Cup, various AFC age-group tournaments and invitational matches played across Asia.

2.6 Barclays Asia Trophy 2015 2.6.1 AFC appointed Muhammad Taqi, Sukhbir Singh, Ahmad A’Qashah, Jansen Foo, Farhad Mohamed, Lim Kok Heng, Ronnie Koh, Edwin Lee and Jeffrey Goh to officiate in this tournament, which was held in Singapore from 15 to 18 July 2015. Arsenal FC, Everton FC, Stoke City FC and a Singapore Selection team participated in this tournament.

2.7 EAFF East Asian Cup 2015

2.7.1 FIFA Referee Muhammad Taqi and Jeffrey Goh were appointed by AFC to officiate in the Men’s Football competition of this tournament held in Wuhan, China from 2-9 August 2015 and our FIFA Women Assistant Referee, Rohaidah Bte Mohd Nasir was appointed for the Women’s Football competition of the same tournament from 1-8 Aug 2015.

2.8 28th SEA Games 2015

2.8.1 AFC/ AFF appointed our FIFA match officials Sukhbir Singh, Jansen Foo and Jeffrey Goh to officiate in the men’s football competition during the 28th SEA Games 2015 held in Singapore.

64 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 2.9 Invitational Competitions & Friendly Matches

2.9.1 Our FIFA Women Assistant Referee, Rohaidah Bte Mohd Nasir was invited to officiate the international women’s friendly match between South Korea and Russia in Incheon, South Korea on 5 April 2015.

2.9.2 Sukhbir Singh officiated in the Binh Duong Television Cup tournament in Binh Duong, Vietnam from 6-15 November 2015.

2.9.3 Muhammad Taqi, Lim Kok Heng and Ronnie Koh also officiated in the Mekong Club Championship in Hanoi, Vietnam on 6 December 2015.

2.9.4 Muhammad Taqi was invited to officiate the Toyota Premier Cup Final match between Buriram Utd (THA) and Albirex Niigata FC (JPN) in Bangkok, Thailand on 13 February 2016.

2.10 AFF Course for Newly-Registered FIFA Referees

2.10.1 Daniel Wong and Manoj Kalwani, together with two of our young referees Y. Sathya Kumar and Abdul Hannan Bin Abdul Hasim, attended the FIFA/AFF/FAM Course for newly-registered FIFA Referees & Assistant Referees in Shah Alam, Malaysia in March 2015.

3. S.LEAGUE & PRIME LEAGUE REFEREES

3.1 A total of nine FIFA Referees, including four FIFA Assistant Referees, four Class ‘1’ Referees, eight FIFA Assistant Referees, one National Referee and 14 Class ‘1’ Assistant Referees officiated a total of 167 Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League, RHB Singapore Cup and The New Paper League Cup matches for the 2015 season.

3.2 List of Referees & Assistant Referees

Referees 1 Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari FIFA 2 Sukhbir Singh FIFA 3 Ahmad A’Qashah FIFA 4 Jansen Foo Chuan Hui FIFA 5 Farhad Bin Mohd FIFA 6 Edwin Lee Tze Liang FIFA AR 7 Muhd Syarqawi Bin Buhari FIFA AR 8 Lim Kok Heng FIFA AR 9 Daniel Wong Shi Jie FIFA AR 10 G Letchman Class 1 11 Muhammad Syahir Bin Ahamadi Class 1 12 Nathan Chan Rong De Class 1 13 W Ravisanthiran Class 1

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 65 Assistant Referee 1 Jeffrey Goh Gek Pheng FIFA 2 Lim Kok Heng FIFA 3 Edwin Lee Tze Liang FIFA 4 Muhd Syarqawi FIFA 5 Ronnie Koh Min Kiat FIFA 6 Ong Chai Lee FIFA 7 Manoj Kalwani FIFA 8 Daniel Wong Shi Jie FIFA 9 Eugene Chan Yew Ren National 10 Andrew Kee Hua Yew Class 1 11 John Doo Chun Taw Class 1 12 Er Swee Ann Class 1 13 Muhd Syahir Bin Ahamadi Class 1 14 Nathan Chan Rong De Class 1 15 Syed Ibrahim Class 1 16 Muhamad Zulfiqar Class 1 17 Chandramohan Subash Class 1 18 Mohamad Hidir Class 1 19 Victor Teo Tze Wei Class 1 20 Kwang Yong Class 1 21 Yip Siew Kit Class 1 22 Mansur Ali Bin Mohamed Ali Class 1 23 Durga Thapa Class 1

3.3 A total of 60 referees and assistant referees, including six FIFA match officials from Brunei, were appointed by the FAS Referees’ Committee to officiate in the 2015 S.League and Prime League. These referees were carefully selected by the FAS Referees’ Committee and had to undergo a stringent assessment process conducted when they officiated in the various FAS competitions.

3.4 Our S.League and Prime League referees continued to perform reasonably well in 2015. In order to continue developing and training our referees, FAS Referees Department conducted regular training sessions, monthly match video analysis and high intensity fitness tests and fitness training sessions for these referees throughout the season.

4. COURSES & TRAINING CONDUCTED

4.1 The FAS Referees Department takes continuous learning seriously. To this end, the following courses and sessions were held in 2015:

4.1.1 S.League Referees & Referee Assessors Seminar

66 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 4.1.1.1 In preparation for the 2015 S.League season, a five-day seminar from 21-25 January 2015 was held at the FAS Conference Room. It was conducted by FIFA Referee Instructor Mohd Rodzali Bin Yacob and assisted by our FAS referee instructors.

4.1.1.2 A total of 30 referees, 16 assessors and five observers were selected to attend this seminar.

4.1.1.3 The purpose of this seminar was to refresh and improve the technical knowledge of the Laws of the Game and also on-field performance of our match officials. Both practical training sessions and theory lessons were conducted during the seminar at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

4.1.2 Referees’ Basic Courses

4.1.2.1 A total of three Referees’ Basic Courses were organised by FAS Referees Department in 2015. The participants were taught about the Laws of the Game and had to undergo stringent fitness, theory and practical tests before they were registered as FAS Class 3 Referees.

4.1.2.2 Out of the 93 registered participants, 67 passed the course and were registered as FAS Class 3 Referees.

4.1.3 Outreach Programme

4.1.3.1 An initiative was undertaken by Referees Department to conduct an Outreach Programme with NIE/ NTU. The aim was to transfer knowledge and to recruit referees. A special Referees Basic Course was conducted as part of this initiative in December 2015 and attracted a total of 19 participants, of which five are now registered with FAS.

4.1.4 Monthly Field Training

4.1.4.1 Monthly field training sessions were conducted to improve the referees’ performance. Referee assessors’ reports were used to identify areas of improvement for referees, who also viewed match videos and were provided analytical data. This helped the referees understand the game better, predict actions and eventually improve their positioning and decision-making.

4.1.4.2 The Referees’ Committee and Department plan the training programme. Fitness training is also incorporated into these sessions.

4.1.5 Monthly Match Analysis

4.1.5.1 Monthly match analysis sessions were held in the NFA conference room. Video clips of contentious incidents in S.League matches were highlighted during these sessions.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 67 4.1.5.2 The referees will then review and comment on the decisions made by the referee during the match. Discussions on the appropriate decisions and actions that should have been taken were discussed during these sessions. The assessors will also highlight and advise on the appropriate decisions that should have been taken.

4.1.5.3 The field training and match analysis sessions were conducted for the match officials to assist them with consistent decision-making, man-management, field movements and communication between the match officials during the matches.

4.1.6 Monthly Progressive Training

4.1.6.1 The progressive training sessions were held monthly at Jalan Besar Stadium. They consisted of field training and classroom sessions. The objective is to train the junior Class 2 and 3 referees.

4.1.6.2 Tactical and technical guidance was provided to improve their basic skills in refereeing, and also to impart more advanced knowledge to them. Question and answer sessions were held at the end of each session to clarify any doubts about situations that occurred in their games.

4.1.7 Monthly Project Talent Training

4.1.7.1 From the progressive training sessions, referees with higher potential were selected to be part of a Project Talent group of referees. Beside their fitness and field training conducted with the progressive group, they were also required to attend theory lessons. They were tested on the Laws of the Game, match incidents and other related tests.

5. LAWS OF THE GAMES SESSION WITH S.LEAGUE CLUBS

5.1 All players and officials registered with the S.League clubs should be equipped with a good level of knowledge and understanding on the Laws of the Game.

5.2 To facilitate this, a Laws of the Game session was conducted with all the S.League clubs prior to the commencement of the new season in March 2015. This session was held at Republic Polytechnic on 25 February 2015.

6. NATIONAL REFEREES

6.1 Our National Referees have done reasonably well in officiating in the various FAS competitions. They were involved in many of the Centres of Excellence League, National Football League, Civil Service League and Schools matches, as well as other various competitions and matches that were organised in 2015.

68 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 7. WOMEN REFEREES

7.1 Currently, there are only four female referees actively involved in refereeing in the local divisional leagues, women’s football and grassroots matches. We have one FIFA Referee, one FIFA Assistant Referee and two Class Three referees.

7.2 FIFA Women Referee Abirami Naidu and FIFA Women Assistant Referee Rohaidah Bte Mohd Nasir have been provided with several opportunities to officiate in the divisional league and women’s football matches, and they have also excelled in AFC/ FIFA assignments.

7.3 The promotion of Abirami and Rohaidah to the FIFA level will act as motivation for other ladies in Singapore to join become match officials as we aim to attract, groom and develop more female referees.

8. YOUNG REFEREES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

8.1 Class 1 Referee Muhammad Zulfiqar Bin Mustaffa attended the AFC Project Future Referees Development Course in Male, Maldives, while Class 2 Referee Abdul Hannan participated in the AFC U14 Regional Festival of Football in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.

9. FAS REFEREE INSTRUCTORS

9.1 FAS has produced a talented and experienced pool of nine Referee Instructors who are also FIFA & AFF Instructors: (a) FIFA Instructor – Shamsul Maidin and John Chia (b) FIFA Fitness Instructor – M Ganesan (c) AFF Instructors – K Visva Nathan, Nazeer Hussain, Abdul Malik, Augustine Arlando, Mohd Ali Samad, Haja Maidin, Lau Kok Hong, N Santhan and K Surindranath (d) Local Instructor – T Aravinthan (fitness)

9.2 The instructors conduct courses, training sessions and fitness tests to further improve the overall standard and performance of our referees.

10. FAS REFEREE ASSESSORS

10.1 Over the years, FAS has nurtured and trained the following referee assessors who assessed the performance of our referees during the Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League, RHB Singapore Cup, The New Paper League Cup, Prime League, National Football League and other competitions:

(1) K Visva Nathan (2) Nazeer Hussein (3) Abdul Malik (4) John Chia (5) Lai Boon Teck (6) M Ganesan

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 69 (7) Mohd Ali Samad (8) Augustine Arlando (9) Lau Kok Kong (10) Haja Maidin (11) Yazeen Buhari (12) K Surindranath (13) N Santhan (14) Suresh Nair (15) T Aravinthan (16) Rosli Omar

11. REFEREES COURSES

11.1 The following referees attended the following courses conducted by AFC and FIFA for the Financial Year 2015/16.

S/No Date Referee Course

FIFA Seminar for Referee & Assistant Referee 1 20-24 April 2015 Abirami Naidu selected for FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland

Abdul Hannan Bin Abdul AFC U14 Regional Festival of Football in 2 12-22 August 2015 Hasim Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

AFC Project Future Referee Batch 2014 Muhd Zulfiqar Bin Second Development Course in Male, 3 19-26 August 2015 Mustaffa Maldives

25 September-1 AFC Development Group Referee Course 4 Jansen Foo Chuan Hui October 2015 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Muhammad Taqi Sukhbir Singh Jansen Foo Chuan Hui The AFC Refereeing Seminar 2016 Men 5 27 November-1 Jeffrey Goh Gek Pheng Referees and Assistant Referees Course – December 2015 Lim Kok Heng Group 1 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Ronnie Koh Min Kiat Edwin Lee Tzu Liang Ong Chai Lee

Abirami d/o Apbai Naidu The AFC Refereeing Seminar 2016 – Women 6 13-18 March 2016 Rohaidah Bte Mohd Referees and Assistant Referees Course in Nasir Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

70 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 12. REFEREE ASSESSOR / INSTRUCTOR COURSE

12.1 The following Referee Assessors/Instructors attended the respective AFC & FIFA courses.

S/No Date Name Courses AFC Refereeing Seminar – Part 2 27-10 March John Chia Eng Wah 1 2015 AFC Project Future Referees Batch 2014 First Development Course in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia N Santhan FUTURO III - Referee Instructors Course in 2 3-8 June 2015 K Surindranath Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia T Aravinthan AFC - MA Referee Director Workshop in Kuala 3 7-9 August 2015 K Visva Nathan Lumpur, Malaysia 20-25 August AFC Project Future Referees Batch 2014 4 John Chia Eng Wah 2015 Second Development Course in Male, Maldives 16-19 October AFC Referees Recruiting 2016 Selection 5 M Ganesan 2015 Course in Dubai, United Arab Emirates 16-19 October AFC Referees Recruiting 2016 Selection 6 John Chia Eng Wah 2015 Course in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Shamsul Maidin 27 November-7 AFC Referees Seminar Part 1 Men Referees 7 John Chia Eng Wah & Assistant Referees Group 1 & 2 in Kuala December 2015 M Ganesan Lumpur, Malaysia Augustine Arlando 11-15 January FIFA/AFF/LFF Refresher Course for Referee 8 Nazeer Hussein 2016 Instructors/ Assessors in Vientiane, Laos Santhan Nagalingam K Visva Nathan 2-4 February The AFC Refereeing Seminar 2016 – Part 2 in 9 Abdul Malik 2016 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Mohd Ali Samad 2-5 February The AFC Refereeing Seminar 2016 – Part 2 in 10 John Chia Eng Wah 2016 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 16-19 February Shamsul Maidin FIFA Seminar for Referee Technical Instructors 11 2016 John Chia Eng Wah in Seville, Spain 16-19 February FIFA Seminar for Referee Fitness Instructors in 12 M Ganesan 2016 Seville, Spain 14-22 March AFC Project Future Referees Batch 2014 Third 13 John Chia Eng Wah 2016 Development Group in Fukuoka, Japan 22-28 March Development Group Referees 2015 Support 14 M Ganesan 2016 Programme in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

12.2 Our FAS Referees Assessors Shamsul Maidin, K Visva Nathan, John Chia, Abdul Malik and Mohd Ali Samad are also in the AFC Elite Referee Assessors’ Panel and were appointed by AFC for high-profile matches to assess the AFC referees’ performances during AFC competitions.

12.3 John Chia and Mohd Ali Samad are also members of FAS Referees’ Committee, and will continue to use their experience to develop and train our local referees to attain international standards.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 71 13. FITNESS TEST

13.1 FAS Referees Department conducted four key intensive fitness tests for our referees in 2015, namely the Annual Referees Registration, FIFA Referees & Assistant Referees Nomination, S.League and Prime League (Pre-Season and Mid-Season) fitness tests.

13.2 FAS adopted the best practices from FIFA and AFC for fitness testing in terms of using electronic Microgate equipment and sound system for all the fitness tests, which provides accuracy and precision in the sprints and the high intensity runs.

13.3 The primary objective of these fitness tests is to ensure that our referees are in top physical condition throughout the season to meet the demands of local and international assignments.

14. FAS REFEREES ANNUAL APPRECIATION NIGHT

14.1 Referees Department organised this annual function at the Westwood Bowl at Bukit Batok CSC on 11 December 2015. A total of 135 referees attended. This bowling event was organised as a bonding session for all classes of referees, as well as to appreciate and honour the achievements of our referees, assessors and instructors and to show our support and appreciation for their dedication to refereeing.

14.2 The Guest of Honour was our FAS Referees’ Committee Chairman Lim Tong Hai. Deputy Director, Development and Planning Benjamin Tan and several committee members were also in attendance. Five Years and 10 Years long service certificates were also awarded to 59 recipients during the event.

15. Conclusion

15.1 In the world’s most popular sport, the pressure and focus is always on the referees, whose split-second decisions are scrutinised by everyone. The challenges and demands placed upon referees are only exacerbated with the rise of social media.

15.2 FAS will work closely with FIFA and AFC to further enhance the performance of our Referees in 2016.

15.3 Our referees will strive to work even harder with greater determination and effort for the new season. With the support of the FAS Referees’ Committee, management and staff, the Referees Department is confident of scaling greater heights for 2016.

Prepared by: K. Visva Nathan Head, FAS Referees’ Department

Vetted by: Yazeen Buhari Head, Development and Planning Division, FAS

Approved by: Lim Tong Hai Chairman, FAS Referees’ Committee

72 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) REPORT OF THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE FOR FY2015

1. For the financial year of 2014, the Disciplinary Committee (“DC”) dealt with five cases. In 2015 as at end of June, the DC dealt with 4 cases. Of the nine cases dealt with during the period, five cases involved incidents during S.League matches and two involved incidents during National Football League (NFL) matches. The remaining two cases involved a team official from an S.League team, who was accused of making an “illegal approach” to induce a player to join/sign for another team, and a player from an FAS-sanctioned tournament.

2. The officials and players involved were given sentences varying from fines, match suspensions and warnings, together with suspended sentences. In one case, the player was acquitted as it was a clear case of an accident and not deliberate violent conduct.

3. The DC notes that quite a number of the incidents relate to the team officials and players abusing and threatening referees and match officials with violence. In such cases the DC has imposed fines and suspensions on the players/officials involved. In one case, the player was given a 5 year ban from being involved in any football related activity. The player was also charged in the Court after police investigations for causing grievous hurt which carries a jail term, if he is found guilty.

4. It is hoped that team managers and officials will impress upon all members of the team the importance of not resorting to violence and aggressive behavior during and after matches. In appropriate cases, the relevant party may be charged in Court for committing the offence of causing hurt and/or using vulgar and abusive language. In the event the individual is found guilty, they face the prospect of fines and/or jail, which may affect their careers. It is the duty of the clubs and their officials to reiterate this, and impress upon their players and fellow officials the serious consequences which may follow.

5. The members of the Disciplinary Committee for the 2015/2016 are as follows:

1) K Bala Chandran (Chairman) 2) Wee Pan Lee (Deputy Chairman) 3) Alan Wee Tien Wan 4) Mohd Shahar 5) Dr Chia Yih Woei 6) Intekhab Khan 7) Chidambaram Selvaraj 8) Mohamed Nasser Ismail 9) Andre Jumabhoy

Prepared by: Aloysius Emmanuel Vetha Assistant Manager, Competitions

Vetted by: Adrian Chan Deputy Director, Competitions

Approved by: K Bala Chandran Chairman, Disciplinary Committee

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 73 74 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 75 MEDICAL COMMITTEE

1. Introduction

1.1 The objectives of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Medical Committee (MC) are to advise and assist the FAS and S.League regarding football medical safety and implementing best practices for the general well-being of all football players, coaches and referees. This includes establishing FAS Medical Policies, Guidelines and Safety Regulations as appropriate.

1.2 The MC comprises of medical professionals in the areas of Cardiology, Orthopaedic surgery, Radiology, Sports Medicine, Sports Physiotherapy, Sports Nutrition, Exercise Science and Trauma; and in non-medical related areas, Business Management Consultancy & Advisory and Finance.

1.3 The members on the medical committee are:

S/N Name Designation 1 Dr Dinesh Nair Chairman 2 Dr Cormac Muircheartaigh Deputy Chairman 3 Callista Seow Secretary 4 Aruna Vijaya Ratnam Assistant Secretary 5 Yeo Hwee Koon Member 6 Dr Ganesh Ramalingam Member 7 Dr Harish Sivasubramanian Member 8 Dr Ian Tsou Member 9 Dr Jimmy Chin Member 10 Dr Ng Chung Sien Member 11 Dr Yegappan Muthukaruppan Member 12 Audrey Goh Member 13 Derrick Ong Member 14 Michael Lim Member

1.4 The MC will continue to identify and recruit new members with the relevant expertise in the areas of Nutrition, Psychology and Exercise Physiology to further enhance the Football Science and Medicine (FSAM) support for the various FAS programmes as part of the FAS Strategic Plan.

2. Football Science And Medicine Programmes

2.1 In line with the objectives of the FAS Strategic Plan to increase the Football Science and Medicine Education Programmes, FAS has conducted the following programmes:

2.1.1 FAS Medical Screening Form

2.1.1.1 The FAS Medical Committee has worked together to revise the FAS Medical Screening Form for the S.League as well as for the players from National Football Academy (NFA) teams. This will help to better streamline the musculoskeletal, cardiopulmonary and physiological testing of all players involved in S.League.

76 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 2.1.1.2 The new Medical Screening Form was implemented at the start of 2016.

2.1.2 Injury Surveillance Programme

2.1.2.1 An Injury Surveillance Programme (ISP) was introduced to the S.League clubs. The aim is to track and monitor the injuries sustained by players with the S.League clubs. With this ISP in place, we are able to better understand the trend of injuries sustained among our S.League players. Understanding this trend will help the MC to conceptualise new initiatives to help reduce the rate of injuries in the years to come. This initiative requires dedicated administrative support in the FSAM Department to continue the excellent work. It is the Medical Committee’s recommendation that adequate resources are provided to effectively monitor all footballers’ injuries, their recovery and safe return to active sports status.

2.1.2.2 In February 2016, the Football Science and Medicine Department, with the assistance of S.League Director of Operations Kok Wai Leong and Deputy Chairman of the Medical Committee Dr Cormac Muircheartaigh, met up with all the trainers and medical support staff of the S.League clubs. We have re-implemented the ISP for the 2016 S.League season. We will meet the trainers during the S.League mid-season break for a review to see how we can improve and enhance the ISP.

3. Football Science & Medicine Department

3.1 The FSAM Department provides tiered football science and medicine services and support for all National Teams, NFA teams, Women’s teams, referees and coaches. FSAM’s role is to work closely with the MC to educate footballers, coaches and referees and provide them with the relevant knowledge and skills to assist them in implementing the best practices in football science and medicine with the aim of enhancing the physical and mental perfor- mance of footballers and referees.

3.2 The FSAM has five full-time staff including one physiotherapist, one strength and condition- ing coach, two sports trainers and two sports science personnel. They are supported by a team of six part-time sports trainers who assist in providing match and training coverage for the respective National Teams. Physiotherapists from restructured hospitals (Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore General Hospital, Sengkang Health) and the Singapore Sports School were engaged to assist with medical coverage for some of the NFA teams and wom- en’s matches and training. Two physiotherapists are also engaged on a part-time basis to provide clinical services for these same teams.

3.3 In 2016, our focus is on developing our Sports Science Department. We have engaged a part-time sports scientist who has vast experience from his previous engagements with the Singapore Sports Institute and other National Sports Associations such as the Singapore Rugby Union and the Singapore Hockey Federation. In the first quarter of 2016, we have been carrying out our Sports Science initiatives such as S.League and FAS standardised fitness testing, Sports Science Workshops, as well as Functional Movement Screening and usage of Global Positioning System for our Garena Young Lions players.

3.4 Football Science and Medicine Workshops

3.4.1 FSAM conducted injury prevention, hydration, nutrition and post-training recovery work- shops for the Women’s National Teams (’A’, U19, U16 and U14) during the teams’ early prepa- ration phase for the 2016 Asean Football Federation (AFF) and Asian Football Confedera- tion (AFC) tournaments.

3.4.2 The workshops also involved the parents of these players. The main objective of including their parents is to enhance parents’ understanding and awareness on how sports science knowledge can aid in better preparations for their children. Parents are more informed on the types of food to prepare for their children at home after matches or on game-days.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 77 3.4.3 FSAM, through Head Physiotherapist Nurhafizah Abu Sujad, also conducted an interactive programme on injury prevention and management nutrition and hydration for the Referees Department in February 2016.

3.4.4 A Sports Science Workshop was organised in February for our National Team players. We invited guest speakers Derrick Ong, a dietitian, and senior anti-doping officer Gobinathan Nair to share their knowledge on Ergogenic Aids and Anti-Doping policies for our elite play- ers. The players responded positively with the information shared and cleared their doubts by asking questions at the end of the workshop.

3.4.5 FSAM department rolled out its first initiative of 2016 to the S.League clubs by introducing the standardised S.League fitness test to all the clubs. We compiled the data and presented the results to S.League Director of Operations Kok Wai Leong as well as to the Chairmen and Head Coaches of each club. We will be conducting another session in July for mid-sea- son testing.

3. 4.6 FSAM department also conducted its second Sports Massage Level 1 Workshop for a group of sports science students in March 2016. The main objective was to widen the pool of sports masseurs to assist in major tournaments such as the AFF Suzuki Cup. We have identified and selected three students from this first workshop to help out with the recovery massages for the referees and players involved in S.League games.

3.4.7 The objective of introducing these football medicine and science workshops is to improve our players’ knowledge and understanding of injury prevention, hydration and diet, and men- tal strength. This will in turn help to enhance the quality of their performance in training and during matches.

3.5 Fitness Testing, Strength and Conditioning Program, and Musculoskeletal Screening

3.5.1 During the pre-season, players from National ‘A’ Team, LionsXII, Garena Young Lions, all NFA teams and the Women’s National Team underwent a series of fitness tests which in- cluded endurance tests, speed tests and fat percentage measurement.

3.5.2 The NFA teams and Women’s teams also went through a new syllabus of strength and conditioning programmes this year. This project is being spearheaded by our strength and conditioning coach, Matthew Jones. He is supported by three part-time strength and condi- tioning coaches.

3.5.3 The Garena Young Lions underwent the Musculoskeletal Screening Tests conducted by FAS physiotherapists. From the tests, we were able to identify players who required further medical attention or players who required more treatment time with the physiotherapists or the rehabilitation specialists.

4. Medical Coverage

4.1 The FSAM Department provided medical coverage for the following key activities in the first quarter of 2015:

4.1.1 International Friendly Tournaments for Women’s and NFA Teams

4.1.1.1 FSAM sports trainers provided football science and medicine coverage to the Girls’ Under-14 team during their participation in the Under-14 Japan Exchange programme and Under-14 Hong Kong tournament in February and March respectively. The sports trainers also supported the NFA Under-14 and NFA Under-17 teams during their Hong Kong Invitational Tournament in March 2016. Hydration, nutrition and recovery strategies were implemented during these tournaments in addition to injury prevention and management for the teams.

78 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 4.1.2 World Cup Qualifiers and Asian Cup Qualifiers for the National Team.

4.1.2.1 A broad spectrum of football science and medicine services was provided to the National ‘A’ Team for their preparation and participation in the FIFA World Cup 2018/AFC Asian Cup 2019 joint qualifying campaign from the second half of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016.

4.1.2.2 In particular, FSAM implemented a series of fitness tests a few months prior to the start of the qualifying rounds to better prepare our players in terms of fitness, strength and speed. Players were then given individual programmes to improve on their weaknesses. The GPS system was also utilised in monitoring players’ performances at trainings and during interna- tional friendlies.

4.1.2.3 In early 2016, we conducted the VO2Max testing and body fat measurement via the du- al-energy X-ray absorptiometry DEXA body fat scan with the assistance of the Republic Polytechnic Sports Science Department.VO2Max is a measure of the capacity for aerobic work and can be a predictor of one’s potential as an endurance athlete. Players were made aware of their current level of fitness, as well as the things that were expected from them to improve on their fitness levels to meet the Head Coach’s targets.

4.1.3 Sports Science Support for Under-21

4.1.3.1 A team of a part-time physiotherapist and one sports trainer from the FSAM Department supported the Under-21 National Team in the international friendly against Iran in March 2016.

4.1.3.2 Hydration, nutrition, and recovery strategies were implemented during these tournaments in addition to injury prevention and management for the team. A workshop on travel nutrition and injury prevention was conducted by our Sports Science personnel, Faizul Abdul Wahid, during the team’s centralised training prior to their departure for Iran.

Prepared by: Nurhafizah Bte Abu Sujad Physiotherapist, Football Science & Medicine

With inputs from the FAS Medical Committee

Vetted by:Yazeen Buhari Head, Development & Planning Division

Approved by:Dr Dinesh Nair Chairman, Medical Committee

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 79 80 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 There was a revival of women’s football in Singapore in 2015. The National ‘A’, U19, U16 and U14 squads started preparations for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and regional competitions, such as those organised by the Asean Football Federation (AFF). In addition, three all-girls centres were also established as part of the FAS Cubs grassroots programme.

1.2 On 17 April 2015, Moya Dodd, FIFA ExCo member and Chairperson of the AFC Women’s Football Committee, visited the Women’s National Teams’ training sessions during her stopover in Singapore. She spoke to the girls and complimented Singapore on our steady progress in our women’s football programmes.

2. NATIONAL WOMEN’S TEAMS

2.1 The following women’s football events took place from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016:

2.2 Women’s National ‘A’ Team

2.2.1 The Women’s National ‘A’ Team participated in the Luen Thai Cup 2015 in Hong Kong from 7-9 July 2015 and obtained the following results:

Date Opponent Result 7 July 2015 South China Agricultural University Lost 0-2 8 July 2015 Chelsea Soccer School Hong Kong Lost 0-1 9 July 2015 Northern Mariana Islands All Stars Won 3-0

2.2.2 The team embarked on a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Canberra from 4-10 January 2016 and played the following matches:

Date Opponent Result 6 January 2016 Canberra FC Under-19 Lost 0-1 7 January 2016 Canberra United FC Lost 0-10 9 January 2016 Canberra FC Lost 0-2

2.2.3 The team then played two other friendlies:

Date Opponent Venue Result 29 January 2016 Sri Lanka Jalan Besar Stadium Lost 0-1 26 March 2016 Pahang State Malaysia Sports School Won 5-0

2.3 Women’s U19 National Team

2.3.1 Selection trials were held on 4, 8, 11 and 15 May 2015 to form the Women’s U19 National Team. A total of 75 players attended the trials, from which 28 were selected.

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 81 2.3.2 The team embarked on a training camp at the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) National Youth Training Centre from 14-19 December 2015, and played the following matches:

Date Opponent Result 15 December 2015 Vietnam U17 Lost 0-10 16 December 2015 Hanoi U19 Lost 0-9 18 December 2015 Vietnam U19 Lost 2-6

2.3.3 The team played an international friendly with the Sri Lanka ‘A’ Women’s National Team on 27 January 2016 at the Jalan Besar Stadium and lost 1-3.

2.3.4 The team is currently preparing for the AFC U19 Women’s Championship 2017 Qualification Round from 29 October-6 November 2016.

2.4 Girls’ U16 National Team

2.4.1 Joint selection trials for both the U16 and U14 Women’s National Teams were held on 8, 9 and 10 September 2015.

2.4.2 The team is currently preparing for the AFC U16 Women’s Championship 2017 Qualification round from 27 August-4 September 2016.

2.5 Girls’ U14 National Team

2.5.1 The Girls’ U14 National Team participated in the AFC U14 Girls Regional Championship Asean 2015 from 23-25 June 2015 and achieved the following results:

Date Opponent Result 23 June 2015 Malaysia Lost 1-3 24 June 2015 The Philippines Lost 1-3 25 June 2015 Vietnam Lost 1-6

2.5.2 Joint selection trials for both the U16 and U14 Women’s National Teams were held on 8, 9 and 10 September 2015.

2.5.3 Singapore was invited to the JENESYS 2015 Asean Girls U14 Football Exchange Programme in Shizuoka, Japan from 11-18 March 2016 and played the following games:

Date Opponent Result 13 March 2016 Cambodia Lost 0-1 14 March 2016 Azul Claro Numazu Lost 0-12 15 March 2016 Laos Won 1-0 16 March 2016 Malaysia Won 3-0 2.5.4 Singapore was also invited to the Jockey Club Youth Invitational Tournament Hong Kong 2016 from 7-11 April 2016 and played the following games:

82 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) Date Opponent Result 8 April 2016 Hong Kong Won 3-0 9 April 2016 Thailand Lost 0-2 10 April 2016 Guam Won 3-0

3. SCHOOL COMPETITIONS

3.1 FAS continued to support the girls’ school competitions in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education’s Primary and Secondary Schools’ Sports Councils and the National Games Board to continue to grow girls’ football in schools.

3.2 The following Championships were held:

3.2.1 National Inter-Schools Championship 2015 ‘A’ Division Girls

Ten junior colleges participated in this edition held from 8 April-6 May 2015. The final results were as follows:

Champion: Victoria Junior College 2nd: Meridien Junior College 3rd: Raffles Junior College 4th: Jurong Junior College

3.2.2 National Inter-Schools Championship 2015 ‘B’ Division Girls

Ten secondary schools participated in this edition held from 23 February-15 April 2015. The final results were as follows:

Champion: Queensway Secondary School 2nd: Bowen Secondary School 3rd: Siglap Secondary School 4th: Woodlands Secondary School

3.2.3 National Inter-Schools Championship 2015 ‘C’ Division Girls

Nine schools participated in this edition, which was held from 29 July-31 August 2015. The final results were as follows:

Champion: Bowen Secondary School 2nd: Greenview Secondary School 3rd: Queensway Secondary School 4th: Woodlands Secondary School

3.2.4 National Primary Inter-Schools Championship 2016 Senior Girls

Seven schools participated in this edition, which was held from 25 January-24 February 2016. The final results were as follows:

Champion: Telok Kurau Primary School 2nd: Cedar Primary School 3rd: Coral Primary School 4th: Admiralty Primary School

FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) 83 3.2.5 National Inter-Primary Schools Championship 2015 Junior Girls

Nine schools participated in this edition, held from 6 April-25 May 2015. The final results were as follows:

Champion: Telok Kurau Primary School 2nd: Coral Primary School 3rd: Cedar Primary School 4th: Haig Girls’ School

4. OUTREACH

4.1 Women’s Football Day

4.1.1 The second annual Women’s Football Day was held on 28 February 2016 at the Home of Athletics, formerly known as the Kallang Practice Track. The event was once again graced by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu. FAS Vice President Lim Kia Tong, General Secretary Winston Lee and Technical Director Michel Sablon were also present, together with Lim Teck Yin (CEO, Sport Singapore) and Lai Chin Kwang (Chief, Sports Club Group, Sport Singapore) and other members of FAS senior management.

4.1.2 The event saw 550 girls and women taking part in the 5-a-side, 7-a-side and Family Fun 3s tournaments, as well as the Panna 2 v 2 event. The event drew considerable media coverage.

Prepared by: Julie Teo General Manager, Grassroots, Women’s Football and Volunteer Management

Vetted by: Yazeen Buhari Head, Development & Planning

Approved by: Tan Seng Hua Chairman, Women’s Committee

84 FAS Annual Report (Apr 2015 - Mar 2016) FINANCIAL REPORT

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