Commentary: Can football deliver Singapore its sporting pride?

SINGAPORE: On Mar 8, Singapore’s Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong revealed the latest plan to take the country into the upper echelons of international football.

But, is it a realistic target? If it isn’t, would it be a better use of time and resources to look to other sports that have a better chance of becoming a source of national pride? Why not swimming since it has already put Singapore on the world map through Joseph Schooling’s Olympic winning race?The World Cup is the ultimate goal and Minister Tong has said that the 2034 tournament is a realistic objective for the Lions.

Singapore internationals playing in the SPL can now earn between S$5,000 to S$10,000 monthly, attracting more locals as professional footballers. Equally important is that the approach to talent development has changed. To support Goal 2010, a National Football Academy was set-up in 2000. We also see more Singaporeans competing overseas now. By 1998, only a handful of Singaporean footballers – most notably Fandi Ahmad and V Sundramoorthy – had made a mark overseas.

Installing a national curriculum, improving the standard of coaching and encouraging more youth participation is a worthy goal in its own right. Yet if Singapore wants sport to become a source of national pride then football is not its best bet. South Korea, the most successful Asian nation at the World Cup, has performed better in other non-team sports it concentrates on such as archery, judo and taekwondo.Focusing on such sports involving one or two people is easier than finding 11 to succeed as, in such events, there is a greater correlation between investment, training, determination and success.As is seen, Singapore’s medals at past Olympics have come in swimming and table-tennis.

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