Singapore FA withdraws from 2011 Asian Champions League

October 6, 2010

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has withdrawn from next year’s Asian Champions League in protest against a ban on foreign teams, it has been announced.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has ruled that top leagues across Asia cannot contain foreign team, but the Singapore’s S.League has three – Chinese club Beijing Guoan, Japanese side Albirex Niigata and Etoile FC of France.

Chief of the FAS, Zainudin Nordin, said: “We concluded that due to our current lack of critical mass in key areas such as talent pool and resources, there is still a pressing need for us to continue having foreign teams participating in our league, to help address these gaps in our game and safeguard the sustainability of our league in football excellence, commercial and financial terms.”

President of the AFC, Mohamed Bin Hammam, added: “We have taken on board the situation of the FAS. We hope they will consider seeking direct entry to the ACL soon.

“It is hard to see Singapore out of AFC’s professional football activities in spite of their great potential. We will work hard towards seeing them playing an active role in our professional football programmes in the future.”