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What You Need to Know About The National Football Project, Which Aims to Take S’pore to the 2034 World Cup

2021-03-10 , 10:31 am

If you’re a fan of football, you’ve probably heard the recent news that Singapore is launching our very own national football project in hopes of qualifying for the 2034 World Cup!

Perhaps what seemed like a pipe dream might become a reality in the future.

On Monday (8 Mar), Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Mr Edwin Tong announced the plan that would help raise the standards of Singaporean football and unite Singaporeans through the sport.

Mr Tong also said that Singapore’s current football levels are not where the government would like it to be and that they would like to “rekindle the Kallang Roar and give our young Lions every opportunity to pursue their dreams.”

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) and national sports agency Sports Singapore (SportsSG) will be leading the charge.

In fact, this isn’t very new. Two years ago, the FAS had already set a Goal 2034, aimed at training the national team, the Lions, to qualify for the 2034 World Cup. The new project is linked to this eventual big picture.

Structured Training Programme in Public Schools

As part of the first phase of the project, the FAS will be introducing a standardised national curriculum for football, aimed at improving football standards amongst primary school pupils and promote interest in the sport.

The goal is for there to be a foundation starting with various age groups in Singapore to be more competitive in regional and international football stages.

Public and private football clubs and academies will also have access to the curriculum to spread the knowledge of football island-wide, while the FAS seeks to increase the number of qualified football coaches in schools.

All coaches will have to attain an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ‘C’ coaching licence which will allow them to teach basic football skills and techniques.

Additional Support to Players

Students who show talent will also be scouted to join the ActiveSG Football Academy Development Centres to receive exposure to competitions and training support, in addition to local and overseas scholarships being granted to those who wish to pursue it professionally.

Citing big overseas institutions such as La Liga, Bundesliga Club Borussia Dortmund as well as Australian colleges such as Maribyrnong College, Mr Chua said that the FAS are discussing opportunities with them as well as local clubs like the Lion City Sailors.

Furthermore, the MCCY will work with the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) to explore ways in which those serving their national service can continue training and playing at top levels.

Conducted in Three Phases

According to TODAYonline, the three phases will be conducted from 2021 to 2033.

Phase 1 (2021 to 2022):

The first phase will be focused on creating the right environment to raise football participation across Singapore. All football co-curricular activities (CCAs) will take up a standardised national curriculum.

In addition, 10 to 15 secondary schools will have School Football Academies.

Deputy President of FAS, Mr Bernard Tan added that the association is targeting 10% of boys and girls in each primary school cohort to play football—which is three to four times more than the current numbers.

About 2,000 pupils from each cohort will be involved in this pilot, while MCCY and the Ministry of Education (MOE) will work together to expose them to football tactics and techniques.

One of the goals is to get them to play regularly, or at least 30 out of 40 weeks in an academic year.

They hope that by doing so, they can channel talented students to move into School Football Academies when they reach secondary school. Mr Tan said that the academies are the start of an elite programme “to develop tomorrow’s superstars.”

It will focus on “the Singapore way” of playing football, featuring “high tempo, high-technical, possession-based football”.

Singapore aims to have 250 boys and girls in each cohort at a secondary school level playing at an elite level in either School Football Academies or Centres of Excellences accredited by FAS.

Mr Tan explained, “By the time [a student] is 17, we want him to be knocking on the door to be playing in the Singapore Premier League”. This progression may open up opportunities for them to also play in overseas leagues.

Phase 2 (2022 to 2027):

There will be an eight-pillar strategy to be carried out in these 6 years to give more support to the sector:

Increasing football participation among children
Improving the elite training structure
Establishing football scholarships
Supporting footballers through National Service (NS)
Enhancing the technical capabilities of players and coaches
Tapping science and technology for training
Developing football infrastructure
Building partnerships with members of the public, private and people sectors

Phase 3 (2028 to 2033):

The last phase will pivot on the performance of the national team in tournaments. The “final push” towards qualifying for the 2034 World Cup is an aspirational milestone.

Aim High

Mr Bernard Tan noted that qualifying for the World Cup is not the sole target of the plan.

How successful the project will be is dependent on developing the football ecosystem in Singapore, raising local support for players and improving the footballing standards here.

“This aspirational target is important because if we are going to ask our young Singaporeans to commit to this target, they need to aim high.”

Mr Lim Teck Yin, chief executive officer of SportSG, also added that it will be “inconceivable” if Singapore were aiming for Goal 2034 without first achieving a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games).

TODAYonline also reports that the project is likely to cost more than the current budget—$20 million yearly—to fund FAS and other internal SportsSG football programmes.

SportsSG echoes FAS’s sentiment that the fight against time is real in getting the football system right as a child’s age might hinder their chance to participate in the World Cup when taking part in the upcoming project.

Hopefully, all goes well and one day, just like we did for Joseph Schooling, the whole country will be cheering for Singapore on the big screen!