Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap on motion calling for clear and achievable goals for sporting success

Football has the strongest following of any sport among Singaporeans but many fans have “lost faith and given up” after poor performances in recent years, said MP Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap. Speaking in Parliament on Thursday (Jul 6), he called on the authorities to set realistic goals and ask hard questions to determine what has gone wrong. Mr Faisal said if the men’s national football team cannot even advance beyond the group stages in regional competitions, looking to qualify for the 2034 World Cup is “nothing short of a fantasy”. He suggested that Singapore set its sights on the 2036 AFC Asian Cup and develop a roadmap towards achieving that target. This could include “milestones” such as winning the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship and maybe even gold at the SEA Games in a decade. This would provide greater accountability and the opportunity to tweak the strategy along the way if needed, he said. Mr Faisal noted that in any sport, “the seeds for success must be sown early”. He said Singapore must confront its failures in youth development despite investing time and resources. This could be down to failures in the training and development system and lack of quality in mentoring, coaching and grooming. He cited the Singapore team which won bronze at the 2010 Youth Olympics and who were dubbed the “golden generation”, only to become a “lost generation” of footballers instead. Mr Faisal said the authorities must identify and rectify the errors. He wanted to know if the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth has studied countries which face similar population constraints as Singapore but have achieved relative success, such as Iceland and South Korea. He also reiterated a call for a national conversation on how to “make Singapore football great again”. Mr Faisal said, “If it means we need to tear down FAS (the Football Association of Singapore) and rebuild from the ground up, so be it.”