The imminent restart of football's Singapore Premier League (SPL) is inching closer. However, a restart of Singapore's only professional sports league, which has been suspended since March 24, will hinge on an announcement by the Covid-19 multi-ministry task force.
Speaking after the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) annual congress yesterday, the governing body's president Lim Kia Tong noted "some healthy signs" regarding the coronavirus situation here and added: "With the further opening of the country and other measures involved... we hope to see (the) resumption in the first part of October."
Local SPL teams were allowed to resume full training on Sept 1 and the FAS had initially hoped to restart the league before the end of this month. The Sunday Times understands the FAS could meet club officials before the end of next week, and, should the multi-ministry task force give the go-ahead, the first SPL game could take place on the weekend of Oct 10.
Games will be played without fans and precautions in place will be similar to when the SPL moved to closed-door matches shortly before its suspension. It is unclear if there are testing protocols required for players and teams.
FAS general secretary Yazeen Buhari said there would be changes in the format of the competition - originally, each club in the nine-team league were to play each other thrice - but did not elaborate.
Question marks, however, remain over the participation of champions Brunei DPMM.
On Sept 1, Brunei and Singapore agreed to establish a reciprocal green lane to facilitate essential business and official travel for "a limited number of" residents from both countries.
However, on Sept 19, the National Football Association of Brunei announced it would cancel its domestic Brunei Super League, as well as its youth tournaments involving the Under-19 and U-16 teams.
Lim said the FAS has been doing "everything possible" to facilitate DPMM's continuation in the SPL when it resumes, including working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
DPMM have yet to resume full training - they have been allowed to train only in groups of 10 since last month - and coach Adrian Pennock acknowledged the possibility of his side not participating.
"We want to defend our title, obviously, and if the league resumes without us, it would be a shame," the Briton said in a phone call from Bandar Seri Begawan.
"It's a very difficult decision, but we have to take note of the welfare of our staff and our team, and also the Singapore teams that have to come here to play. I hope (we don't have to sit out) but I totally understand if the Brunei health minister says we cannot play. It's out of our hands now, really."
In his address at the FAS congress, Lim also gave an update on the Goal 2034 project, which aims to send the Lions to the World Cup. He said the association will form a steering committee comprising relevant stakeholders from the government, the corporate sector as well as the football fraternity.
The FAS also announced it is working with Fifa on a subvention programme which will see amateur clubs in Singapore receiving about $500,000 over two years, starting from next year.
The clubs include those in the Singapore Football League (SFL), Women's Premier League, Women's National League and Island Wide League.
Amos Boon, head coach of SFL Division 2 side Singapore Cricket Club, said: "There is now greater financial incentive for every amateur side to perform well on the pitch, while at the same time attain a higher level of professionalism in terms of the day-to-day operations."
