The Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) top brass believe they have learnt from the botched Goal 2010 - the push to qualify the Lions for the World Cup in South Africa - and that Goal 2034 stands a better chance of success because of the current local landscape.
After the association's annual congress at Raffles Town Club yesterday, FAS president Lim Kia Tong told The Sunday Times: "The Goal 2010 project was solely on the little shoulders of the FAS.
"The programme then was concentrated on elite football and there was little effort to build the grassroots so we can have a big base building up to the apex.
"In order for Goal 2034 to succeed, it cannot rest on the shoulders of FAS and the football fraternity alone. There must be other stakeholders."
He added that the announcement of Goal 2034 has generated "a lot" of interest from the football fraternity, as well as the likes of Singapore National Olympic Council, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and Sport Singapore.
"If there is a collective effort, all these stakeholders will be playing a very important part in the whole system towards World Cup 2034, in terms of financing, facilities and other aspects."
FAS vice-president Edwin Tong had revealed the "realistic" plan to The Straits Times last month, and ST understands that the FAS has met ministry and SportSG officials for discussions.
While the Goal 2034 blueprint is yet to be unveiled, FAS vice-president Bernard Tan shared in broad strokes yesterday what some of the building blocks are.
One is having a wide base of football-playing kids aged six to 12. The FAS aims to increase the current pool by four times to about 10,000.
Tan said that one way to achieve this is to propose to schools without fields to let their students play indoor soccer, while the emergence of the ActiveSG Football Academy complements the push.
The FAS also aims to raise the coaching levels and increase the number of players in its elite pipeline. Abolishing its National Football Academy to decentralise youth development was a major step towards that goal, according to Tan.
Players are also encouraged to further their development overseas at college or professional levels.
The Kallang Training Hub, to be completed next year, will accommodate the expected increase in numbers, while the FAS is also looking to improve support for the national team in areas such as sports science and technology.
Tan said: "We are not looking for incremental changes, we are looking to make a leap... addressing the kids born in and after 2010.
"We are asking them to have their own football dreams and for the nation to participate in fulfilling those dreams.
"Many of these building blocks are already quietly put in place. Now we want to bring them together and accelerate it as a coordinated programme, so that we can get the benefits from all these taking place and push them into one complete goal," he said, adding that Goal 2034 must also bring benefits like national pride.
Assuming an average age of 25 for the Lions squad in 2034, FAS general secretary Yazeen Buhari acknowledged that there must be "implementation milestones" accomplished which include unprecedented feats, such as qualifying for the Asian Cup, winning the SEA Games football gold, and qualifying for AFC tournaments at age-group levels.
While accepting that there will be scepticism due to the failed Goal 2010, Tan said: "This is an ambitious proposal that originates from, but doesn't end with, the FAS.
"It is something... for the whole nation to dream. Singapore football deserves a dream, our country and younger generation deserve a dream."
