SEA Games 2025: Outmuscled, outpaced and outlasted – SNOC blasts Young Lions
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Singapore's men's Under-22 football players reacting after losing 3-1 to Timor-Leste during the 2025 SEA Games at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok on Dec 6.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Follow topic:
- SNOC's Mark Chay criticised the U-22 football team's attitude and performance at the SEA Games.
- He highlighted a "systemic problem" within FAS, noting a lack of acknowledgement of issues, while High Performance Sport Institure Su Chun Wei also pointed out the team's poor performance.
- Su underscored the importance of the Unleash the Roar! project to improve Singapore football and called for patience, reaffirming the commitment to youth development.
AI generated
BANGKOK – Outmuscled, outpaced and outlasted – these were the choice words used by Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) secretary-general Mark Chay on Dec 20, when he delivered his verdict on the national men’s Under-22 football team’s performance at the SEA Games.
He did not mince his words when asked about the Young Lions at the Team Singapore review at Bangkok’s Grand Fourwings Convention Hotel, noting that there was a “systemic problem”.
He was part of a three-man panel, alongside Singapore chef de mission Lawrence Leow and High Performance Sport Institute (HPSI) chief Su Chun Wei at the press conference.
Responding to a question on whether there were regrets in allowing the team’s participation at the Games, he said: “I wouldn’t say that there are regrets. We need to give our athletes opportunities to shine, it is regrettable that the athletes were not able to and the results showed.
“I was there for the Timor-Leste (match). They (Singapore) were outmuscled, outpaced, outlasted. And these are not… things that are to do with talent or skill.
“I think the attitude was something which FAS (Football Association of Singapore) needs to look at. The athletes just walked off the field, didn’t acknowledge the crowd, there were 2,000, of which 500 of us were Singaporeans.
“I understand disappointment, but they need to really look at sportsmanship, look at (their) attitude and respect of the sport as well as the people who went there to support them.”
The Young Lions were not in SNOC’s provisional SEA Games list released in August secure their spots only on appeal
The Young Lions lost both their matches at the Games and finished bottom of the three-team Group A to bow out of the tournament at the group stage for a sixth consecutive time.
This time, they opened with a 3-1 loss to Timor-Leste on Dec 6 3-0 to hosts Thailand on Dec 11
Dr Su said: “We gave the football team a chance, it didn’t turn out as expected, this is a fact... I would just say that the performance is poor.”
For local football fans, it was a case of deja vu after the U-22 team’s disastrous campaign in 2023, when they were thrashed 7-0 by Malaysia in the group stage, with the result triggering fans’ anger and a review by the FAS.
Chay said: “I think the key to actually making any change or any progress is acceptance and awareness of their problem. I haven’t heard anything from FAS or the athletes that there is a problem. I think that is a systemic problem.”
Earlier in the press conference, Dr Su noted that football and badminton were two sports which underperformed.
But he added that the team’s results in Bangkok have underscored the importance of the Unleash the Roar! (UTR) project launched by the Government in 2021 to improve and transform Singapore football.
The full set of UTR beneficiaries will compete at the SEA Games only in 2031 or 2033 at the latest, he added.
When announcing UTR in March 2021, former Sport Singapore chief executive officer Lim Teck Yin set a goal for the Young Lions to win the SEA Games gold by 2027 or 2029.
Dr Su said that officials are aware that “football is not doing well, and that’s why we have to do UTR”, as he called for more patience.
“I know we have been saying this over every edition, but it is just a fact. This does not reflect our ambitions, and therefore UTR is doubling down,” he said.
“We will make sure that our NDC (National Development Centre), JNDC (Junior National Development Centre) will continue, and the youth leagues. We will make sure that we address this football situation and make it totally different in the near future.”
